Kabosu, the Japanese dog who became a global internet icon, has passed away at the age of 19.
Kabosu was widely recognized as the face of Dogecoin, an alternative cryptocurrency that initially started as a playful critique of the 2013 cryptocurrency boom.
Dogecoin (DOGE), an open-sourced cryptocurrency inspired by Kabosu, was developed by Billy Markus from Portland, Oregon, and Jackson Palmer from Sydney, Australia.
As noted by CoinMarketCap, the founders of Dogecoin envisioned it as a playful and approachable cryptocurrency. They aimed for it to attract a wider audience than Bitcoin, leveraging its roots in a popular dog meme.
The value of the token surged after Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO known for his support of digital currencies, began endorsing it on Twitter in 2020. Musk has consistently promoted cryptocurrency since.
Last year, Dogecoin’s market value increased by as much as $4 billion (£3.1 billion) after Musk, who acquired the social media platform Twitter in 2022, temporarily swapped Twitter’s blue bird logo for an image of Kabosu. He later rebranded Twitter as X.
Currently, with a market capitalization of about $23.6 billion, Dogecoin ranks as the ninth largest cryptocurrency, as reported by the data website Coingecko.com.
“Kabosu’s global impact is immeasurable,” Dogecoin stated on the social media site X this past Friday.
Atsuko Sato, Kabosu’s owner, announced the heart-wrenching news in a blog post titled ‘Thank you, Pumpkin’ accompanied by a poem in Japanese.
Sato has scheduled a farewell gathering for Kabo-chan on Sunday, May 26th at Flower Kaori in Kotsu no Mori, Narita City. The event will run from 1 pm to 4 pm.
Kabosu leaves behind her owner, Sato, and her cat siblings, Tsutsuji and Ginnan.
