Dogecoin’s value has ballooned from a fraction of a penny this time last year to $0.17 at last check, with an eye-popping market cap of $22.5 billion. Dogecoin has muscled its way into the top 12 of the crypto rankings, surprising everyone from crypto market influencers to the co-founders of the Dogecoin project.

Dogecoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency built on the blockchain and used chiefly for payments. The blockchain’s decentralized nature means that Dogecoin does not require a third party, like a bank, to complete transactions. But transactions need to be verified somehow, and that’s where mining comes into play.

Dogecoin, like Bitcoin, relies on the proof-of-work (PoW) process through which individuals and groups use their computers to solve complicated equations on the blockchain, complete transactions, and create blocks, in exchange for which they receive new coins. PoW has drawn criticism for its energy-intensive nature.