Coinbase said on Tuesday it will immediately accept inbound
transfers of dogecoin Coinbase Pro, a trading venue for professional traders.
Dogecoin rose 31% on Wednesday to $0.41 in the wake of the
Coinbase news. That pushed the cryptocurrency's market capitalization to $54
billion, making it the sixth-largest token, according to data and market
tracker CoinGecko.com.
Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York,
said dogecoin was nowhere near the level seen leading up to Tesla chief Elon
Musk's appearance last month on Saturday Night Live, a U.S. comedy sketch TV
show.
But this "dogecoin bounce comes during a period where
the cryptoverse is seeing a consolidation of positions, so we should not be
surprised if this recent surge fizzles or if it makes another attempt at the
moon," he added.
Dogecoin lost more than a third of its price after Musk, a
big supporter of the currency, called it a "hustle" during his
guest-host spot on the Saturday Night Live.
The token's rise came during a surge in online trading of
stocks and crypto by retail investors, stuck at home with extra cash because of
the COVID-19 pandemic. The coin has not seen much growth in usage for payments
or in commerce.
A boom in usage of online trading apps like Robinhood also
fueled the social-media driven rally in GameStop Corp stock this year, which
pitted retail investors against hedge funds.