http://rory.cc/dogecoins-olympic-goodwillRORY MCMEEKIN
Dogecoin’s Goodwill
JAN 31, 2014
Dogecoin is emerging as a cryptocurrency to be reckoned with; its altruistic tendencies highlight its growing force.
I went to bed on Wednesday night after seeing that Dogecoin’s subreddit had just announced their plan to send India’s luge contender to the Winter Olympics, after someone caught hold of his struggle to get funding. Unfortunately, my Dogecoin client had yet to sync with the network (I have been a bit behind lately), and therefore I was unable to invest. Not to worry, I thought, I’ll have a chance in the morning.
Boy was I wrong.
I awoke to a frenzy on the subreddit, as its participants had manager to raise the entire funding goal, Ð4million (roughly $6k USD, in just three hours. Granted, one donator had contributed 75% of the donation raised, but this does not detract from the spirit that the rest of Dogecoin’s community seems to currently possess.
Much of the charitable donation by many Dogecoin users not only seems to be due to the strong sense of altruistic readiness encompassed by the community and its fast-growing activity (48k subscribers and rising rapidly, compared to BTC’s 100k), but also by the high frequency of ‘tipping’ — most usually on the Dogecoin subreddit, whereby many users take part in using a tipbot to send small amounts of DOGE (most usually $0.02 — $2.00) on any comments or posts they choose, as a token of appreciation. The culture of sharing small amounts of currency is so prevalent (5k transactions/hour compared to Bitcoin’s 2.5k) that it is yet another indicator that the fledgling currency is not only on the rise, but that its users are quick to pick up a ‘worthy’ cause.
What does this mean for the budding crypto currency? It helps add weight to the argument that the Jamaican bobsled funding exercise was not a fluke. If anything, it supports the idea that Dogecoin’s strong and ever-altruistic community is ready to fund projects they deem in need of help. This activity should only serve to perpetuate the excitement around Dogecoin, as well as its media interest. It is far too early on to speculate how long the momentum of interest surrounding Dogecoin will last, but continued efforts by Dogecoin’s affable members to promote, use and charitably spend the currency will most likely continue to grow its value in some way.
If funding exercises can remain as focussed as the two current Olympic examples, then the Dogecoin community stands a good chance of furthering their ability to raise money for fringe causes in need. However, there are strong instances of cause fragmentation that need to be addressed, but the providing of a central DogecoinFoundation is beginning to set ‘official’ causes that receive appropriate attention. Another, ethical issue relates to the appropriateness of a cause; the case of the Indian luge contender’s shortage of funding was supposedly shrouded in political issues that prevent him from representing India at the Winter Olympics — Dogecoin users will have to find a balance between some form of regulation and risking funding causes that do not necessarily result in a morally smooth outcome.
It seems unlikely that Dogceoin’s users (known as ‘Shibes’) will reach their target of getting to the moon anytime soon. But with its current impetus, the cryptocurrency stands to be one of the most popular alternatives to Bitcoin. Perhaps the wider community should begin to realise the association with the meme that formed its jovial identity is perhaps now less trivial. Indeed, many crypto exchanges are beginning to list Dogecoin as a major alt-coin — even more recently, attempts are being made to separate Dogecoin’s value from Bitcoin more explicitly, with a DOGE/USD pair available to trade. This potential severance of direct influence comes with its own caveats, but most importantly serves as evidence to support Dogecoin’s growing independent identity. If the community culture continues to embody itself within an ever-growing user base, in combination with Dogecoin’s actual adoption, then the future is most certainly bright as the cryptocurrency seems a promising force for good.
