A Dogecoin whale sold a massive DOGE reserve during the meme coin's resurgence in late 2023, however, he missed out on a million-dollar profit from this sale.
In a dramatic turn of events, a Dogecoin (DOGE) investor who held one of the largest DOGE wallets over the past decade missed out on a potential million-dollar gain by selling their tokens at an inopportune time. This wallet, which began accumulating DOGE in late 2013, finally sold its entire stash in late 2023. However, the sale preceded a significant price surge.
The Dogecoin Million-Dollar Fiasco
The wallet’s initial investment in DOGE was a mere $146.87, netting over 274,000 tokens just 21 days after Dogecoin’s launch. Throughout 2014, the wallet owner continued to invest. Hence, he initiated numerous purchases ranging from a few cents to a few hundred dollars.
By early 2015, the wallet had invested a total of approximately $5,000 in DOGE, amassing a significant amount of the meme crypto. Thereafter, the wallet remained inactive until 2023. During the dormancy period, Dogecoin’s value skyrocketed, particularly in 2021.
At the time, the King of Meme Coins gained substantial attention from social media and endorsements from high-profile individuals such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk. This surge propelled DOGE from less than 1/100 of a cent to a peak of nearly $0.74.
At its zenith, the wallet’s investment had swelled to over $4 million. However, the owner chose not to sell at that time. The subsequent crypto bear market of 2022 and 2023 saw DOGE, along with many other cryptocurrencies, lose significant value.
The Dogecoin price dropped more than 90% from its all-time high, reflecting the broader market’s downturn. However, by late 2023, as DOGE started to show signs of recovery. Hence, the wallet owner decided to sell all the Dogecoin tokens on October 28, 2023.
The sale, executed in three transactions, garnered approximately $370,000. These sales equating to 5.39 million DOGE at an average price of $0.068 per token. Ironically, soon after the sale, meme coins, particularly DOGE, experienced a resurgence.
DOGE’s Unprecedented Comeback
Since the sale, the DOGE’s price has surged nearly 120%, with a year-to-date increase of more than 60%. At its peak in 2024, DOGE reached a price of $0.23, a 235% increase from the selling price. If the wallet owner had held onto the tokens, the value would have climbed by an additional $870,000.
Moreover, selling at the peak in 2024 could have resulted in total proceeds of approximately $1.25 million. This would mark a potential gain of nearly $1.20 million from the sale. Despite the substantial return on investment from the initial $5,000, the timing of the sale highlights the difficulty in capturing optimal profits in such a volatile market.
Dogecoin Latest Trends
The Dogecoin price trajectory is experiencing a correction lately, trading below $0.15. At the time of writing, the DOGE price was down by 1.32% to $0.1491 on Wednesday, May 15. Additionally, the 24-hour trade volume for DOGE plummeted 17.30% to $1.64 billion. Whilst, the largest meme coin held a market cap of $21.53 billion.
Furthermore, derivatives traders lowered their bet on Dogecoin futures as the open interest plunged 2.46% to $811.06 million. Moreover, longs led the liquidations in a bid to minimize losses from the downturn. The DOGE long liquidations amounted to $2.47 million in the last 24 hours, according to Coinglass.
Dogecoin’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) value stands at 48.8, indicating that it’s neither overbought nor oversold. However, the DOGE crypto is currently trading lower than its 50-day EMA of 0.1528, according to Trading View analytics. This indicates a short-term bearish trend for the meme coin.