This article was originally published on May 25, 2021 6:21 am. It was one of the most read articles on Benzinga.com this year.
What Happened: The Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO took to Twitter to address his preference for meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) over “more advanced alternatives” like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA).
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Doge has dogs & memes, whereas the others do not
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 25, 2021
Musk reasoned that “Doge has dog memes, whereas others do not” when asked why he chose Doge over other cryptocurrencies that are trying to scale with low fees.
Why It Matters: Musk’s response on Twitter was part of a post calling Dogecoin developers to submit ideas on Github to further the development of the cryptocurrency.
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A review of the Dogecoin network’s recent development activity reveals that hardly anyone has been actively contributing in recent years.
See also: How to Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)
In an interview with Decrypt, Dogecoin developer Ross Nicoll said that Musk has, in fact, offered the devs “lots of advice” on how they can take Dogecoin from a joke to a true utility.
"I can honestly say he’s improved the higher transaction throughput," Nicoll said while noting that Musk often thinks the obvious next steps for Dogecoin can come a lot sooner than possible.
"He runs off to the end goal," Nicoll explained. "He is back at the coffee shop, and we’re going, ‘great, but we need to make a path from A to Z—it’s not the next step.’ So we're a long way off from actually announcing plans on that right now."
See also: Elon Musk Might Reconsider His Stance On Bitcoin Mining, Asks Followers To Help Dogecoin Developers
Meanwhile, Dogecoin’s original creator, who previously stated that he created Dogecoin in 2 hours “without thinking about anything,” said it was unlikely he would get back to developing the Doge network.
“I don’t have much incentive to do that and a lot of disincentive,” he said on Twitter, explaining that people shouldn’t “just do work for others without any benefit to them and be treated like a means for them to make money.”