Here's Why Doge Is Built To Thrive In Tough Times
Here's Why Doge Is Built To Thrive In Tough Times
Hey everyone,
Last week was one of the wildest and most punishing in crypto history.
Billions in wealth evaporated overnight when the stablecoin TerraUSD collapsed.
The disaster sent shockwaves reverberating throughout the rest of the crypto ecosystem: Bitcoin tumbled below $30K for the first time this year, while Doge sank under 10 cents.
Despite the downturn in price, Dogecoin continued to steadily build momentum through a combination of humor, memes, and charitable giving.
Let’s take a look at the reason behind the latest crypto crash, and why Doge is built to thrive in tough times.
Terrable Times
The crypto market sustained a deep correction last week.
The immediate cause was the collapse of the Terra protocol and its Bitcoin-backed stablecoin TerraUSD.
TerraUSD was designed to maintain a consistent value of one dollar.
When a well-funded, anonymous entity attacked the value of TerraUSD, the market lost confidence in its value, sending it plummeting.
With TerraUSD in free fall, Terra was forced to sell billions of dollars of Bitcoin and buy back TerraUSD in an unsuccessful attempt to restore its dollar peg.
The sudden Bitcoin sell pressure pushed it below $30k for the first time in nearly a year. As Bitcoin fell, it dragged the rest of the crypto market down with it.
The Terra situation is complicated and many details are still unknown.
In the aftermath, rumors surfaced that Blackrock and Citadel were behind the attack on Terra, a claim that both denied.
Whoever is responsible, they timed the attack to happen during a punishing stretch for crypto, which has been hurt by rising interest rates and an unforgiving macro environment for risk-on assets.
The market drawdown put a hurt on many investors, who have already endured a challenging year.
Crypto bear markets aren't fun for anyone, and certainly not at a time when the broader economy is under duress.
Despite all the bad news, a few silver linings emerged for Doge.
Doge donations
Bear markets have a way of separating the wheat from the chaff.
Cryptocurrencies that depend on hype and empty promises fade into irrelevance, but projects with real utility can emerge stronger than ever.
Doge held up comparatively well last week, regaining a spot in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap as other coins hemorrhaged value.
While the Terra crash was unfolding, Billy pointed out how Dogecoin's irony shields it from the worst excesses of cryptocurrencies.
Dogecoin doesn't take it self too seriously. In a market where 90% corrections are the norm, being funny is a big advantage.
Humor never goes out of style, and comes at a premium during tough times. For this reason, Doge is poised to thrive during the downturn.
Elon responded to Billy's assessment, adding that Doge still has utility as a legit form of money.
Bear markets increase the need for comedy, but also charity.
However the economy performs, Doge is poised to shine as the leading charity crypto.
Five minutes after the Billy-Elon exchange, billionaire philanthropist Bill Pulte tweeted at Billy asking how to give away Dogecoin.
Pulte has an inspiring history of giving.
In 2019, he started the hashtag #TwitterPhilanthropy to encourage people to use the social network as a tool for giving away money.
Technology allows us to micro-target to people who are immediately in need [...] Social networks have so much nonsense on them, it's about time we started spreading positivity and love. -Bill Pulte
He also partnered with Jack Dorsey to found the St. Louis Blight Authority to restore neighborhoods in northern St. Louis.
In the days since he first tweeted at Billy, Pulte has kept tweeting about Dogecoin, asking Billy how to integrate Doge with Twitter, lobbying Elon to "get a button to instantly send dogecoin to people," warding off Doge-haters, and promising to start giving Dogecoin away "soon."
He also joined MyDoge social wallet community and immediately received several tips for his newfound Doge advocacy.
The episode is a powerful reminder of Dogecoin's utility as a cheap, quick, convenient way to send donations to people anywhere in the world.
Doge's much wow fun factor adds a little extra philanthropic oomph to lift spirits amidst hardship.
Doge's blend of comedy and charity got another boost this week when MyDoge Social Wallet added a feature called +turd.
The feature allows MyDoge users to throw a figurative turd to express disapproval at a "crappy post."
Entrepreneur Bill Lee inaugurated the feature by throwing a turd at President Biden for a dishonest tweet blaming inflation on corporations (rather than government money printing).
Throwing a turd on Twitter acts like a downvote or dislike, but with a kick.
When a user throws a turd, their social wallet automatically sends 4.2069 Doge to the Dogecoin Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that promotes Dogecoin development.
Elon seemed to acknowledge the new trend of turd-throwing by posting a turd emoji at the bottom of a Parag thread about Twitter's policy for counting spambots.
Whatever happens with price in the short term, Doge continues to attract new members to the DogeArmy through a blend of humor and world-beating technology.
As long as the community takes joy in spreading Doge throughout the world, and utility continues to increase, momentum will keep building.
No one knows how long this correction will last, but when it does end, Doge will emerge stronger than ever.
Doge on
Crypto corrections can lead people to question their investments, but the thesis behind Doge remains unchanged
The world needs a cheap way to transmit value across the Internet without the use of third parties. Doge's fixed yearly issuance and positive branding make it the ideal crypto for spending.
Elon is still in Doge's corner, and evidence continues to mount that he has big plans for its future.
This week, the price of Doge tumbled, but it continued to flex its utility as a fun, convenient charity crypto.
If we learned anything, it's that Doge is built for tough times.
Keep calm and Doge on.
Dogey Treats: News Bites
Elon put his acquisition of Twitter "temporarily on hold" to gather details about the percentage of Twitter users who are bots, adding that he is "Still committed to acquisition." He encouraged Twitter users to do a random sampling of followers to gauge the number of bots, and said his team would do the same. Bot Sentinel, a platform that monitors Twitter accounts, estimated that 10-15% of accounts are bots. On Friday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said he still expects the deal to close. Later that night, Elon tweeted, "The bots are angry at being counted." Some speculated that Elon caught Twitter defrauding shareholders, while others saw the move as a negotiating tactic to reduce the cost of the Twitter acquisition. On Monday, Elon said his lowest estimate was that 20% of Twitter accounts were bots, and potentially as high as 80-90%.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Elon said it was a mistake to permanently ban Trump: "Banning Trump from Twitter didn't end Trump's voice. It will amplify it among the right and this is why it is morally wrong and flat out stupid." Billy predicted that, if the ban were lifted, Trump wouldn't use the platform anyway, and Elon agreed, tweeting that he thought "a less divisive candidate would be better in 2024." He also posted a meme about the state of journalism and a link showing that the claim Trump encouraged people to drink bleach to cure COVID was a media hoax. For his part, Trump used his new social media platform to cast doubt on Elon's Twitter deal and encourage people to join Truth Social instead.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried purchased 7.6% of Robinhood for $648 million dollars.
Jack Dorsey said he would never be CEO of Twitter again.
Elon said the earth's economy could grow 10x or 100x in size and still be powered completely by renewable energy. In the past, he has proposed powering the entire US with solar energy using a "100 by 100 mile patch in a deserted corner of Arizona, Texas, or Utah."
Jerome Powell was confirmed for second term as Federal Reserve Chairman by the Senate. Financial analyst Zoltan Pozsar released a memo suggesting that the Federal Reserve would continue to destroy American wealth by raising interest rates in order to tame inflation. Billy tweeted a quote from Satoshi about central banking and said "cryptocurrency was created as a statement against central bank control." Elon responded by adding, "The axiomatic error was that housing prices only go up."
After Billy tweeted "finding things funny rather than getting offended all the time will improve your life and the lives of everyone around you," Jeff Bezos said the tweet was "Damn good advice." Bezos criticized a proposal by President Biden to reduce inflation by increasing taxes, saying "The newly created Disinformation Board should review this tweet" and "Misdirection doesn't help the country."
Vitalik Buterin reportedly donated 500 Ethereum to the Dogecoin Foundation with no strings attached for how the money would be used.
Doge Dev Patrick Lodder posted another update on Dogecoin core.
Binance will reportedly provide Doge proof of assets after a campaign by the Doge community.
Terra co-founder Do Kwon blocked Billy, who has been critical of Terra's handling of the UST collapse. Elon tweeted "Billy is the best."
The cyber whistle is back on sale for Dogecoin on Tesla's merch store.
Tim Urban posted a thread called "Some mantras for political thinking." Elon said it was a "great thread" and critiqued the use of labels "left wing" and "right wing."
Starlink has blocked Russian attempts to jam Ukrainian satellite Internet so far.
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Disclaimer:Â This is not financial advice and I am not a financial advisor. The article above references an opinion for entertainment purposes only and it is not investment advice. Do your own research and consult with a licensed financial adviser before making any investment decision. Do not treat any opinion expressed in this newsletter as a specific inducement to make a particular investment. Content, news, research, tools, and securities symbols are for educational and illustrative purposes only and do not imply a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell a particular security or cryptocurrency or to engage in any particular investment strategy. The information provided is not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and is subject to change without notice. The projections or other information regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, are not guaranteed for accuracy or completeness, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. All investments involve risk, losses may exceed the principal invested, and the past performance of a security, industry, sector, market, cryptocurrency, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Dogecoin is a speculative and highly volatile asset susceptible to pump-and-dump schemes.
At the time of publication, Dogecoin is around $0.09 per coin.