A Case for Legitimization: the Dogecoin Foundation Returns
Written By: Isha Goel | August 19 2021
After nearly six years, the Dogecoin Foundation is coming back to support the Dogecoin (DOGE) ecosystem, and this time, with some high-profile individuals to its board of advisors. The board will include Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin as a blockchain & crypto advisor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s legal and financial advisor Jared Birchall to represent Musk’s interests. Also, ‘the Foundation Board consists of core developers Ross Nicoll and Michi Lumin, along with product and community leads Timothy Stebbing, Gary Lachance, and Jens Wiechers.’ They are hoping to secure a three-year budget to fund their full-time staff to continue developing the project.
Improving the Brand Image
With a more structured approach to work on the project, Dogecoin may have a better chance at improving its brand image. Full-time staff would include engineers who would improve both integration and APIs for financial, social, and charitable projects wishing to use Dogecoin. The foundation is finding it more and more important to protect the Dogecoin brand as dog-themed products are being introduced by numerous companies. Axe deodorant launched a limited edition DOGE scent and Kraft Heinz Co auctioned ‘Hot Doge Weiners’ this past year. The project mentioned that ‘In recent times, numerous attempts have been made to co-opt the ‘Dogecoin’ brand in various jurisdictions, in ways that would prevent the community and the project itself from using them.’ Now, they do have exclusive rights to both the Dogecoin mark and logo and intend to maintain them for the community.
It doesn’t hurt that the co-founder of Ethereum wants to be a large part of the effort. After having previously expressed support toward Dogecoin, Buterin went one step further to mention that he believes that Ethereum was also a dog coin in spirit so that ‘If Doge wants to somehow bridge to Ethereum, and then people can trade Doge thousands of times a second inside a loop ring, then that would be amazing.’
The Plan to Progress
After being established in 2014, the Dogecoin Foundation now hopes to ‘support the coin’s ecosystem and community, develop a roadmap for the token’s future, and protect the brand against fraud and abuse.’ This could possibly be through a series of technical advancements. A part of this plan includes aiming to establish a budget that is primarily funded through sponsorship and enables community members to work on the coin full time and therefore accelerate its development. A manifesto was also released by the foundation, noting the coin’s core attributes and values: ‘Being useful, we value utility over technical brilliance. Being personable, we value individuals and interactions over profit-driven economics. Being welcoming, we value collaboration and trust over competition and exclusivity. Being reliable, we value working solutions over speed of delivery.’ With the coin ramping up efforts to legitimize itself, it will definitely continue to be a crypto to watch in the coming weeks.
Work Cited
Foundation, Dogecoin. “Dogecoin Foundation.” Dogecoin Foundation, foundation.dogecoin.com/.
Kiderlin, Sophie. “Ethereum Co-Creator Vitalik BUTERIN Will Help Shape the Future of DOGECOIN after Joining the Token’s Foundation.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 18 Aug. 2021, markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/vitalik-buterin-dogecoin-foundation-elon-musk-cryptocurrency-crypto-2021-8.
Ligon, Cheyenne. “Dogecoin Foundation Returns WITH Ethereum’s Buterin as Adviser.” CoinDesk, CoinDesk, 18 Aug. 2021, www.coindesk.com/dogecoin-foundation-returns-with-ethereums-buterin-as-adviser.
Sriram, Samyuktha. “Dogecoin Foundation Returns After 6-Year Hiatus; ETHEREUM’S Vitalik BUTERIN, Musk Rep JARED Birchall Join Board.” Benzinga, 18 Aug. 2021, www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/08/22550853/dogecoin-foundation-returns-after-6-year-hiatus-ethereums-vitalik-buterin-musk-rep-jared-b.
Wright, Turner. “Team Officially Reestablishes Dogecoin Foundation after 6 Years.” Cointelegraph, Cointelegraph, 17 Aug. 2021, cointelegraph.com/news/team-officially-re-establishes-dogecoin-foundation-after-6-years.