Will utility-based coins like Ever-Grow become the new Dogecoin killer?

Dogecoin went viral again this week after news a KFC branch in Utah would now accept DOGE as payment. Unfortunately for Dogecoin lovers, the news turned out to be fake. Meme-coins like DOGE experience massive price pumps following news announcements like this – which demonstrates both the power and problems of these crypto tokens.

Like all top 20 major cryptos (except for stablecoins) meme-coins DOGE and Shiba Inu have fallen sharply in price over the last week. Dogecoin is down 24% – which is still better than Shiba Inu's 30% tanking in price. Yet DOGE remains the top meme-coin on the market with a $15 billion valuation and 132,670,764,300 DOGE in circulation.

Meme-coins had their moment last year, and especially Dogecoin following announcements that Tesla began accepting DOGE as payment. As of February 2022, Tesla announced DOGE could now be used at a supercharging station in Santa Monica in the US. 

While further merchant adoption is probable in 2022 today we're questioning the longevity of meme-coins. In this article we'll compare Dogecoin to crypto newcomer EverGrow Coin and ask: are utility-based coins the new Dogecoin killer?

The rise of Dogecoin

Dogecoin is based on the popular 'doge' meme from around 2013. Spin-offs show a Shiba Inu surrounded by Comic Sans words – especially the mispronunciation of dog as 'doge'. Billy Markus from Oregon and Jackson Palmer from Australia created the token the same year as a light-hearted crypto seeking appeal outside the Bitcoin audience.

Dogecoin's fundamental structure differs from Bitcoin, however, in that there's an unlimited supply of DOGE – currently 132,670,764,300 tokens exist. The coin was initially used to tip Reddit or Twitter users, but uses have become increasingly creative. In 2014, for example, more than 26m SHIB was raised (roughly $25,000 at the time) to help send the Jamaican bobsleigh team to the olympics. Over the years Tesla founder Elon Musk has called it his 'favourite' crypto token, which kicked off furious DOGE rallies. DOGE hit an all-time high of $0.7376 back in May last year off the back of media coverage. (DOGE is currently trading at $0.1125).

While media hype is great for meme-coins like Dogecoin, the coin can't always survive off it. Dogecoin saw a major blow this week as top developer Ross Nicoll stepped back after claiming it was 'overwhelming' to keep pushing the token forwards. Nicoll also said that 2021 was challenging due to numerous parties 'registering trademarks for Dogecoin' despite no affiliation to the Dogecoin Foundation. 

Dogecoin is still a popular and well-loved token but it's not clear how 2022 will bode for DOGE – and meme-coins in general. Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have seen some of the highest losses of major cryptocurrencies. Tesla's further adoption of Dogecoin – as well as news of Dubai's first DOGE-themed fast food restaurant – will hopefully encourage further developments to the coin's price.

Enter Ever Grow Coin 

Ever-Grow Coin is a crypto newcomer that only launched in September last year. However the coin intended from the start to build in strong fundamentals and utilities that could survive without a major marketing campaign, freak news stories or bullish markets. The first major utility built into the token is its rewards paid out daily in BUSD (Binance pegged US dollars). An 8% on all Ever-Grow Coin (EGC) transactions is redistributed to coinholders' wallets without them swiping a finger. To date more than $34 million has been paid out.

Ever-Grow Coin's plans for 2022 focus on developing an ecosystem of in-house applications that generate extra revenue for EverGrow's team of developers and top finance professionals. According to EverGrow's white paper, any profits will be used to buy back and burn (BBB) EGC tokens on the market and send them to a burn wallet. This tackles a major problem of meme-coins – that they have unlimited supplies – while also generating extra rewards for token holders. 

The first application expected to see roll-out before the end of March 2022 is Crator, the world's first crypto integrated social media platform. Content creators can receive either EGC, other crypto tokens or fiat currencies as tips or subscriptions. Advertising will also generate revenue from the platform to benefit all EGC holders. 

There's no doubt that meme-coins have unparalleled popularity. They appeal to a wide range of people far outside the crypto space, though they have their own problems of continuing to stay relevant. New crypto coins like EGC build on the meme culture of Dogecoin but have utilities built in from the get go. As many analysts are eyeing up EGC as the next big crypto it asks the question: are coins like Ever-Grow Coin the real Dogecoin killers?