Which cryptocurrency started as a joke based on a meme?

The cryptocurrency that started as a joke based on a meme was Dogecoin.

Dogecoin was created by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer and officially launched on December 6, 2013. Its name, logo, and playful presentation drew on Doge, an internet meme featuring a Shiba Inu named Kabosu and colorful, deliberately broken-English captions such as “wow” and “such coin.”

The creators intended Dogecoin to be more approachable and lighthearted than Bitcoin. Technically, Markus based its protocol on Luckycoin and Litecoin, and it used the Scrypt proof-of-work algorithm rather than Bitcoin’s SHA-256 system. The joke currency quickly developed an active online community.

Dogecoin’s later fame can obscure its modest beginning. It was not created by Elon Musk, although Musk later became one of its most prominent public boosters. Shiba Inu is another dog-themed cryptocurrency, while Floki and PepeCoin also reference internet culture; Dogecoin is the original major meme-based coin in this group.