It was created as a joke in 2013, has an unlimited supply that inflates forever, and offers no technical innovation whatsoever. Yet it's survived 11 years, ranks 9th by market cap at over $17 billion, and maintains a fiercely loyal community.

Its only real asset is brand.

This isn't unprecedented. Coca-Cola's formula is chemically simple. Supreme sells basic clothing. Red Bull's energy drink is easily replicated. Yet these brands command massive premiums because cultural positioning creates value independent of product superiority.

Meme coins are experiments in turning shared culture into tradable assets. [For more on how meme coins work, see our complete guide here.] Most fade when the joke gets old. A few—like Dogecoin—start as jokes but evolve into something people actually use for tipping, payments, and community building. These rare survivors show that culture can create markets.

But can culture sustain markets with broken fundamentals? That's the question Dogecoin has been testing for 11 years. After proving the brand moat is real, the harder question emerges: is cultural strength enough to overcome perpetual inflation of 5 billion coins annually?

Time will tell. For now, let's run it through The Gate.