Meme-famous Shiba Inu, the face of dogecoin, dies

The dog that skyrocketed to internet fame and became the face of the cryptocurrency dogecoin died.

The Shiba Inu named Kabosu passed away in Japan at 18 years old, a number of outlets reported. The dog's owner, Atsuko Sato, said in a post that Kabosu died in her sleep. The account for dogecoin on X, formerly Twitter, also said she died, calling her an inspiration.

Sato, a 62-year-old kindergarten teacher in Japan, adopted the dog from an animal shelter in 2008, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sato posted pictures of Kabosu, and her cats, online regularly. It was a picture of Kabosu, her head tilted in a seemingly quizzical fashion, that captured the attention of early adapters of cryptocurrency and she became a meme almost overnight.

It started as a mockery of many cryptocurrencies

A developer named Billy Markus used the image in an effort to mock many of the cryptocurrencies being traded at the time. Markus co-created dogecoin using the Kabosu meme. The dog's image was transposed onto a gold coin as the emblem for dogecoin in 2013, according to the Journal.

Kabuso's image was soon being shared by traders, celebrities and even members of Congress.

Dogecoin, pronounced dohj-coin, flirted with mild levels of popularity over the years. April 20, 2021, was "Doge Day." Supporters of dogecoin were trying to help it shed its image as a joke cryptocurrency and get it seen as a way to make fast and easy transactions, though it is not accepted widely for payment.

A year later, billionaire Elon Musk suggested Twitter consider providing a way for users to pay for subscription memberships with dogecoin.