Who is Kabosu? Looking at Iconic Doge Meme Shiba Inu Dog who passes away at 18

Popular dog Kabosu, the face of dogecoin and several other meme tokens, passed away early on Friday.

By Marita Pinto

Published on May 24, 2024 | 02:42 PM IST | 36.5K

Kabosu

TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains references to death.

The popular Shiba Inu dog, Kabosu, who gave rise to the popular doge meme and the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, died on Friday at the age of 18. The Japanese dog was diagnosed with leukemia and liver sickness. The dog enjoyed ten years of internet popularity as the face of the widely shared "Doge" meme, which eventually turned into Elon Musk's preferred cryptocurrency,

His owner informed him of the death and provided information on a memorial party scheduled for Sunday, May 26. From 1 to 4 p.m., Japan's Nara City will host the farewell celebration. She wrote, "She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her."

How did Kobasu inspire the viral doge meme?

2010 saw the Japanese Shina Ibu dog go viral on the internet when a photo of her with her paws crossed and a small smile went viral. The picture was called Doge by a Reddit user, a reference to a 2005 Homestar Runner episode implied by the purposeful misspelling of the word dog. It served as the inspiration for the joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

An entire group of dog-themed tokens, including Shiba inu (SHIB) and floki (FLOKI), were eventually born out of DOGE's success, and they have since grown to be one of the largest sectors in the business.

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