<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"We've talked about Dogecoin -- a Bitcoin-like virtual currency that started as a bit of fun -- having potential as a micro-currency for transactions and 'tipping' on the Internet (more on that below), and it seems like it is gaining credibility among investors. Dogecoin founder Jackson Palmer says he has rejected $500,000 investment proposals following early discussions with at least two VC firms.\r\n\r\nSpeaking to Techly at a meet-up in his native Australia, Palmer said he has no interest in taking on funding, but did have preliminaries talks with a VC firm in the US and another in Australia.\r\n\r\nWe checked in with Palmer to validate the claim -- because you can never be too careful -- and he confirmed the funding offers, explaining to us his belief that Dogecoin is best left as a community-driven entity:\r\nI really think Dogecoin's strength is that it belongs to the community\u00A0that has brought it this far. It's the internet's currency, and doesn't rest in the hands of any\u00A0one person or entity.\r\n\r\nI guess the argument of VCs is that taking investment could assist in the growth of the currency --\u00A0but the fact is that the bulk of it's growth comes from the community and not the small core team\u00A0we maintain for official projects like charity sponsorship. I'm\u00A0fairly confident in the moon trajectory the community has set, and I believe in them.\r\nWhether that interest comes in response to Dogecoin's potential or is a side affect of the 'Bitcoin boom,' Palmer is staying focused on making Dogecoin a currency that fosters social good as a &amp;quot;grassroots community&amp;quot; project.\r\n\r\nReflecting on a recent initiative that\u00A0raised $30,000 to bring service dogs to children in need, and a second project that raised a $30,000 donation to enable the Jamaica bobsled team to compete at the Sochi Winter Olympics, Palmer told Techly:\r\nThat\u2019s why I turned those guys down.\u00A0A lot of investors come to me and they say \u2018you know you could get rich off this, you can make millions. What are you going to tell your grandchildren in the future?\u2019\r\n\r\nAnd I reply, \u2018you know what I\u2019m going to tell my grandkids? I\u2019m going to tell them that we paired service dogs with children in need, off the back of a f***ing joke.\u2019\u00A0\r\n\r\nThe fact is that out of nothing I can contribute $30,000 to a children\u2019s charity that I believe in, that is payment enough.\u00A0I don\u2019t want anything more. I could leave tomorrow but the fact is I\u2019ll be happy for the rest of my life. It\u2019s all I want.\r\nThe Dogecoin founder says people won't get rich of the currency, as many long-term investors have done with Bitcoin. That was reinforced by a decision earlier this month to allow annual inflation of the currency once the hard cap on coins mined by computers is reached.\r\n\r\nSo what else is Dogecoin good for?\r\n\r\nIn addition to enabling social good and charitable causes, Jackson sees Dogecoin's sweetspot as a way to show appreciation for others on the Internet. Beyond just liking or retweeting content, you could 'tip' them 50 Dogecoins, which is around $0.07, for example.\r\n\r\nHe explains more:\r\nThe internet is asking for a currency akin to the US or Australian dollar that you can send to somebody else without having to worry about it and it\u2019s more tangible than clicking a button and that person getting a notification that said I liked it.\r\n\r\nWhen somebody likes something that I post it\u2019s more tangible than a little bit of reputation. It\u2019s not something that can be manufactured. It also costs the end user. That\u2019s how a currency works. Or it should.\r\nDogecoin was written off by many as a joke -- which it no doubt was at first -- but it is appears to be settling into a niche. Data from\u00A0Bitinfocharts.com\u00A0shows that its market cap is the third largest among virtual currencies, despite having a meager valuation of\u00A0$0.00138 per coin. (Bitcoin is currently around the $600 mark, but has been as high as $1,000.)\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRelated:\u00A0Virtual currency Dogecoin suffers first hack as $13,000 is stolen from an online wallet service\r\n\r\nImage via\u00A0Oleg Znamenskiy\u00A0/\u00A0Shutterstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/02/17/dogecoin-founder-says-he-rejected-500000-investment-offers/>