World’s First Crowdsourced Currency: Why I Love Dogecoin and You Will Too

I will start off with the full disclosure by stating that I own some dogecoin which has a current value under $10. And now with that out of the way.

A digital currency inspired by a meme. Ok, that sounds silly, and truthfully it is.

First a bit of background. Created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer earlier this month, dogecoin is a new digital currency that is similar to bitcoins in that it is mined and operates with decentralized Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term to handle transfers of Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term. The currency is uses script technology for its cryptology, making it similar to litecoins. At the time of this writing each dogecoin or Ð is worth about $0.0006. or in other words, 10,000 of them are $6. The algorithm calls for a float of 100 billion, with about 15% of that already being mined. In regard to the Comic Sans font being used for this article, it’s part of the dogecoin ‘don’t take me seriously’ culture that Markus had in mind when creating the idea of coin.

Serious Coin, Funny Meme

It might have the ‘Don’t Take Me Seriously’ beginnings, but dogecoin is a serious coin. Forget for a minute the picture of the dog, the ‘so’ and ‘much’ vocabulary used by the community, and the fact that when Palmer first tweeted he was creating dogecoin he had no idea about how to create currencies (great post on its history), this is why it should be taken seriously and why I love it.

1)With 100 billion float, it’s no bitcoin which peaks at 21 million. The sheer size of the float and how quickly it is being mined means no one (even the creators) can really grab a substantial part of the float. Pretty much anyone can start mining and gain a few thousand quickly. Even without mining, buying them now is rather cheap and even if the value would go to Ð1 = $1, for the average person it sounds more affordable than triple digits for bitcoins.

2)It has its own currency symbol. Ok, maybe it was borrowed, but how cool is it that ALT+0208 brings up Ð on your computer. It was created for the Vietnamese dong (VND), but the currency sign has changed to ₫, freeing it for dogecoin use. (dogecoins are actually worth more than dongs at this point as $1 = about 21,095 VND, while $1 =Ð1667)

3)It’s crowdsourced. Everything about dogecoin is based on crowdsourcing. When Jackson Palmer first tweeted the idea about dogecoin as seemingly a joke, he was urged on by friends to make it happen. Since launching, it has spawned an active community on Reddit, Twitter, Bitcointalk forum, and in many blogs. This in turn has created crowdsourced innovation such as finding the Ð symbol, rendering creatives, and expanding its technology.

4)Based on script technology it makes mining accessible to anyone with a proper computer with a cooling fan. No need for video card shortages here.

5)It’s something you just want to see work out. Bitcoin is great, and there is no questioning that. But, let’s face it, its technology oriented and takes a while to comprehend. Dogecoin is too. But, dogecoin comes with a simplistic look and massive monetary float which brings with it a non-tech appeal. You don’t see dogecoins and think about how they are going to be used for buying drugs or illegal monetary fraud (unless you are these guys). This is important for allowing it to appeal to a large scale audience.

6)Network effect, this circles back to being crowdsourced inspired. I’ll admit that bitcoin can also be described as crowdsourced in terms of the community involvement to keep it a reality and evolve. But, from its very beginning, and the fact that it was inspired by a meme had led dogecoin to have the social networking effect in its DNA. It’s a pure democratic currency whose destiny lies in the direction the public takes it.

To summarize. Do I think it will overtake bitcoin, nope. Does it have the ability to appeal to a broader audience, yes. And that ultimately is why it stands a chance to survive and ultimately become the next big thing in digital currencies.

Convinced? Let us know what you think in the comments