Glauber Contessoto purchased into Dogecoin at simply the correct time. Impressed by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s endorsement of the dog-themed memecoin, the 37-year outdated spent his life financial savings and maxed out bank cards to purchase $250,000 price in February 2021. His household and pals apprehensive he was making a giant mistake however, simply two months later, he turned a millionaire.
As Dogecoin took off in mid-2021, Contessoto’s holdings ballooned to $3 million, and he parlayed his luck into a large web following beneath the deal with “SlumDOGE millionaire.”
The nice instances didn’t final, nevertheless, as Dogecoin plummeted from $0.53 to $0.06, main Conessoto to lose each his hundreds of thousands and his superstar standing. However he didn’t promote. He remained satisfied that Dogecoin, and his social media accounts, would make their means again into the highlight—and he was proper.
Amid the present crypto growth, Dogecoin is hovering once more and Contessoto’s fortune has grown again to greater than $2 million. Whereas he plans to promote a portion of it this time, he’s nonetheless assured in the way forward for Dogecoin.
“Dogecoin, to me, it was all the time a conviction play… As soon as I dove into cryptocurrency, bitcoin, blockchain expertise, and in the end Doge, I used to be like, wow, this can be a expertise that’s not solely right here to remain, it’s going to thrive sooner or later,” Contessoto instructed Fortune.
When Fortune sought to confirm the scale of Contessoto’s investments, he declined to share his pockets handle saying that he doesn’t need folks to know precisely how a lot Dogecoin he has however that it’s over 5 million. He additionally offered this screenshot.
Contessoto offered this screenshot of his pockets exhibiting he has over $2 million price of Dogecoin. Courtesy of Glauber Contessoto
After three lackluster years, Dogecoin has grown over 200% within the final month boosted by President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto platform and Musk’s appointment to move the Division of Authorities Effectivity, or D.O.G.E — a nod to the billionaire’s favourite crypto.
Turning into the SlumDOGE Millionaire
When Contessoto splurged on Dogecoin, he was in search of methods to alter his life. Upon googling “Learn how to turn into a millionaire?” he discovered that almost all profitable folks have a number of streams of revenue and determined to start out investing.
Intrigued by the explosive worth motion of crypto and Musk’s fascination with Dogecoin, Contessoto risked all of it on the Shiba Inu-themed memecoin.
“Not solely is that this Dogecoin factor catchy, stylish, and I can see it gaining traction with millennials… however now we even have the richest man on the earth that’s additionally a giant fan of it,” he mentioned.
Contessoto noticed one thing in Dogecoin that was lacking from most different cryptocurrencies: a well-known face. The doge meme — a sassy, orange Shiba Inu giving the aspect eye — popularized in 2013, is among the many most ubiquitous web memes, recognizable to nearly any Gen Z or millenial.
He began posting YouTube movies, documenting how lengthy it might take for him to turn into a millionaire. As his pockets grew, he gained tons of of 1000’s of followers on YouTube and Twitter.
The Way forward for Dogecoin
When his wealth abruptly evaporated, a lot of his followers turned on him. Some have been upset that they misplaced cash investing in Dogecoin on his recommendation and others made enjoyable of him for persevering with to carry.
“A part of the explanation why I didn’t promote was as a result of I believed, in some bizarre means, it might have been hypocritical for me to inform everybody Dogecoin is the longer term…after which flip round and promote on everybody after I inform them to purchase it,” he mentioned.
The opposite motive he held on was as a result of he really believed that Dogecoin would rally once more.
Contessoto acknowledges that Dogecoin’s attraction is in its branding, connecting web memes and popular culture with blockchain expertise in a means no different coin has.
Whereas Dogecoin might by no means be a retailer of worth the identical means as Bitcoin, Contessoto sees it as a gateway into the difficult world of crypto for brand new traders who’re unfamiliar with the expertise and its use circumstances.
“It’s like, you’re going to a celebration the place you don’t know a single individual, and then you definitely acknowledge any person out of your class,” Contessoto mentioned. “…You’re feeling comfy. It’s like, oh, I can get behind this. I completely perceive this.”
Now that Dogecoin is tied to Musk’s efforts to curtail authorities spending, the coin shall be delivered to thoughts upon each point out of the tech billionaire and the Division of Authorities Effectivity. It has secured a long-lasting place in our tradition that, Contessoto says, will proceed to drive adoption of crypto extra broadly.
“It’s a kind of issues like, I’m betting on the relevance of this. I’m betting on how huge and the way large this turns into as a cultural icon,” Contessoto mentioned.
