Kabosu, the legendary meme dog who became the face of Dogecoin, has died

Shiba Inu, who became the face of the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin, passed away on May 24 at the age of 17.

His owner Atsuko Sato announced this news on her official blog (via Cointelegraph), expressing deep gratitude for the love and support Kabosu had shown over the years. The crypto community and fans of Kabosu expressed their condolences, sharing memories of the dog that became an Internet legend.

Kabosu first attracted attention in 2010 when Sato adopted him from a shelter and posted photos on her blog. One of the images of the surprised and slightly skeptical Shiba Inu's face went viral on the internet as a meme with phrases in broken English.

By 2013, the meme was gaining more and more popularity, and eventually Kabosu's face was used as the official image of the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Elon Musk repeatedly caused spikes in the coin's value with his Twitter posts: in April 2023, he temporarily replaced the blue bird on Twitter with Kabosu - Dogecoin's value soared by 30%, and Musk himself sold coins worth $124 million at that time.

In December 2022, Sato informed the community that Kabosu was having health problems, and after Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus asked followers for help - one offered to cover "any expenses necessary to ensure the best treatment".