Kabosu, the Japanese dog that is the face of the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), has died at age 18.
The Shiba Inu dog died from leukemia and liver disease said her owner Atsuko Sato on social media.
The dog gained worldwide fame in 2010 as the image of the hugely popular Doge internet meme, which was based on photographs of Kabosu.
The meme image of Kabosu was adopted as the face of Dogecoin when the crypto launched as a joke in 2013.
Dogecoin today has a market capitalization of almost $23 billion U.S., having risen more than 70% so far in 2024.
The meme crypto has a devoted cult following among celebrities, including rapper Snoop Dogg and Tesla (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:TSLA) chief executive Elon Musk.
Dogecoin has even been the official sponsor for English professional soccer club Watford F.C. in a deal worth nearly $900,000 U.S.
Last year, a statue of Kabosu was built in the Japanese city of Sakura to celebrate the famous canine.
Kabosu’s owner Sato is a kindergarten teacher from Japan. She claims to have adopted Kabosu from an animal shelter back in 2008.
The Shiba Inu dog gained worldwide attention when Sato posted a picture of her with crossed paws and what looked like a smile on her face in a 2010 blog post.
It is the apparent smile on Kabosu’s face that attracted the attention of Dogecoin’s developers and led them to use the meme image that had been circulating online for the cryptocurrency.
Online, people have compared Kabosu’s smile to that of the Mona Lisa.
Dogecoin is currently trading at $0.16 U.S., having risen 130% in the last 12 months.