Sunday, January 12, 2014

To the moon!


Only a short while ago, December 6th 2013, the Dogecoin was unleashed into the shark pool of the economy. At this time of history, 1 Bitcoin hovered around the $1000 mark, with a market capitalisation of roughly one billion USD. Our current global economic system favours greed and recklessness, mainly due to its dependence on central bank money.

Cryptocoins can't eliminate greed from the equation. Greed certainly contributed to the withdrawal of a billion dollar from the corporatist market, with its rigged rules. But the origin of it, mining, creates a different set of values attached to it.

While you might find someone 'lending' you bitcoins or any other altcoin, they cannot lend it into existence, like it's the current practice in most countries. The definition of the bitcoin limits the amount to 21 million coins, some of which might already have entered a digital nirvana.

Just like cash in a wallet, you might lose your cryptocoins if you're not careful. It takes a bit of getting used to exchange digital money, and that slows down the acceptance of a new, fair monetary tool.

The bitcoin and litecoin communities have a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to mutual support and general kindness. Dogecoin has changed the scene by creating a community where giving, sharing and mutual support define its standards.

That doesn't prevent scammers to prey on the innocent. Yet the currently low exchange rate means before you collect so many dogecoins that their loss would really hurt you had enough opportunity to familiarise yourself how to safely engage with cryptocoins.

In first place, the dogecoin community seems more like a fun-based education institution, going through a collective learning process. This happens in a light-hearted manner, united by the idea to go to the moon with dogecoin.

It needed an ecosystem of cryptocurrencies to create an economical system which potentially can sustain itself. The value of each currency depends on the community which mines and uses it. One advantage remains: You get the luxury of 'electronic' banking, albeit a bit clumsy at the moment, without any more bank involved.

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