Research shows that Dogecoin (DOGE) was the only memecoin in 2022 to proactively reduce its carbon footprint – a key metric for mainstream adoption –Â by 25% in one year, thanks to the intervention of developers and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
One of the main reasons why Musk backtracked on accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments for Tesla was high carbon emissions. At the time, he believed that Dogecoin – “even though it was created as a silly joke” – was better suited for transactions.
Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2021
Owing to proactive efforts from Musk and the members of the Dogecoin ecosystem, Dogecoin saw a 25% decrease in its annual CO2 emissions. Compared to the 1,423 tons of emissions Dogecoin released in 2021, it was reduced to 1,063 tons in 2022, shows Forex Suggest research.
Annual CO2 emissions for top cryptocurrencies. Source: Forex Suggest
While Ethereum (ETH) witnessed the biggest reduction in CO2 emissions in 2022 after transitioning to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, its annual emission eclipsed Dogecoin by 8.3 times.
Reduced carbon footprint and large community support positions Dogecoin as a viable financial instrument in 2023.
Related: The real-life dog behind memecoin DOGE is seriously ill
When it comes to year-long price performance amid 2022 bear market, DOGE held up much better than most of the top assets on the crypto market.
The memecoin emerged as the third-best performer in the top ten list after XRP (XRP) and Binance coin (BNB). Evidently, DOGE also outperformed its biggest competition Shiba Inu (SHIB), as the SHIB community focuses on building a layer-2 network, a metaverse and blockchain games.