Ask HN: How is DOGE different from BTC (up 800%+ today)?

I'm struggling to see how BTC, DOGE, and the many other cryptocurrencies out there are going to distinguish themselves from each other over time. Other than the name (and the currently accepted "value" of the coin), it doesn't seem as though, to the lay investor/user of the currency, there is any true difference.

Today's insane 800%+ increase in DOGE scares me into thinking that most of the folks I know who have been working in today's version of cryptocurrencies are literally building the equivalent of giant ponzi schemes (I should know -- I unintentionally ran one at one point in my life).

So... your thoughts?