The Duality of Dogecoin
In many ways, Dogecoin brings more to the Cryptocurrency space than Bitcoin or Ethereum. The duality of dogecoin lies in its ability to be both a joke that doesn’t take itself seriously and a widely adopted financial tool with incredible potential. In its journey from an internet meme used by a small group of redditors to a globally adopted currency with a market cap of over $5 billion, Dogecoin has ushered many into the world of cryptocurrency and has given an entire community of people a glimpse at the possibilities that come from a decentralized financial system.
“Dogecoin is the people’s coin.” -Elon Musk
While Dogecoin was created as a joke-coin based on the original Litecoin script and named after a meme of a Shibu Inu, it has evolved into much more than that.
Community is at the core of what fuels Dogecoin. Part of the beauty of a decentralized and trustless economy can be found in the connections that come from allowing people the freedom to control their own finances. An example of this is showcased through the use of tipping bots on the /r/Dogecoin subreddit and across reddit. The bot, user /u/sodogetip on reddit, cleverly gives users the ability to “tag” the bot in a comment and tip another user, all without using any bank application or another traditional fiat money transfer system.
All a user has to do to tip another user deposits their Dogecoin to the bot, which can be bought on various cryptocurrency exchanges. After depositing, they’ll be able to comment tips to any user on a subreddit that allows the bot to operate.
The bot is also “on-chain.” This is important because it provides an extra layer of verification and security to the coins. The bot also verifies each transaction with malleability detection. A full breakdown of the bot can be found on the bot’s wiki page.
The creativity showcased by this project can be found all around the Dogecoin community. From the community banding together to send the entire Jamaican bobsled team to the Olympics to sponsoring the Nascar racer Josh Wise, there are countless storylines over the course of this community’s existence, and new things are happening every single day.
I truly believe that Dogecoin has encouraged community participation in ways the main coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum have not. While those original cryptocurrencies and tokens have pushed the boundaries of what was thought to be technologically possible, Dogecoin has done something else entirely. It has encouraged a thoughtful and unique community to band together to get behind one idea. It’s no wonder that there’s such a crossover between the people responsible for the now-notorious effort to make GameStop stock hit $1000 on /r/WallStreetBets and individuals that support and utilize Dogecoin.
Dogecoin is a truly unique and special idea that deserves its spot in cryptocurrency history. I count myself as a staunch supporter of the project and what it stands for, and I hope very much that it can #ReachTheMoon.