Q&A with Dogecoin developer Ross Nicoll about its coming upgrade, and working with Elon Musk, who Nicoll says has been in touch with Doge developers since 2019
Dogecoin developers have turned down funding from Elon Musk, choosing instead to tap his brain to make the cryptocurrency a greener …
Context & Ripple Effects
Ross Nicoll describes a relationship in which Elon Musk has contacted Dogecoin developers since 2019, but the developers have declined his funding while seeking his input on a greener upgrade. That distinction matters because Musk’s public connection to Dogecoin was already being scrutinized for its ability to move attention and prices around the token.
First-order effects
- Dogecoin’s developers retain control over upgrade funding and priorities rather than taking capital from Musk, while gaining an informal technical sounding board.
- Musk’s association gives the planned upgrade a higher-profile messenger without making him a funder or formal project operator.
Second-order effects
- The separation between advice and funding makes Dogecoin’s governance independence more visible to users and market participants, even as Musk’s involvement increases attention around the project.
- Public discussion of Musk’s Dogecoin influence can make developer communications more consequential, given the contemporaneous scrutiny of his ability to shift interest in Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
Third-order effects
- The episode points to a governance tension for open-source crypto projects: prominent outside backers can supply attention and ideas, while developers seek to avoid the control signals that accompany direct funding.
The trend: High-profile technology figures are becoming informal influencers of crypto development, forcing projects to separate technical collaboration from financial control.