Shiba Inu Kabosu, who was the persona behind the “Doge” meme as well as Dogecoin is dead
The year was 2010. A photograph of Kabosu making a wry, side-eye look, was published on the blog of her owner in 2013, and it appeared on the web and spawned “Doge” memes.
By TMX, Gray News staff
May 24, 2024 01:26 PM
(TMX) – Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog that starred in countless memes and inspired the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, has died, according to her owner.
The kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato who is 62 years old, posted an article on her blog this Friday, informing her colleagues of the death and thanked “everyone who loved her.”
“At 7:50 a.m., she fell into a deep sleep,” she wrote. “She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her.”
Kabosu was adopted, however Sato who hails originally from Sakura located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, thinks she was 18 years old.
In the year 2010, Sato posted a picture of Kabosu smiling with a curious face with a side-eye, on her blog. By 2013, it had spread all over the web, creating “Doge” memes. The memes incorporated Kabosu’s photo overlayed with words of awe and wonder that were meant to represent the dog’s internal monologue, which is often broken English for example “much wow” and “such freeze, much frosty.”
In December 2013 two software engineers invented Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency in the spirit of Kabosu however, what started as a joke turned into an actual “meme coin” is now one of the top ten most valuable cryptocurrency around the globe and has a cult following that includes the billionaire Elon Musk.
“The impact that this dog has had on the globe is incalculable. She was a creature that was filled with joy and love that was unending,” the official Dogecoin account said on X the site, which was previously Twitter. “Please keep her spirit and her family in your heart, and most importantly carry her with you as your story continues – we are all fortunate for hers to have touched and shaped ours.”
In 2021, the non-fungible token, or NFT of Kabosu’s portrait was sold to a buyer for $4.5 million. Her image was famed in her hometown of Sakura by an unveiled bronze statue earlier in the year.
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