Dogecoin founder Billy Markus is currently struggling to come to terms with DOGE’s recent surge. Markus has revealed that he sold off all his DOGE funds in 2015 for an amount equivalent to a used Honda Civic.
Markus made that announcement in an open letter to the r/dogecoin subreddit earlier this week where he sought to introduce himself to new members of the community. He went on to outline what he thinks is the ‘true value of DOGE after the Dogecoin hyper-activity that saw the crypto gain 900% since late January.
In his post, he offered context on the history of Dogecoin. The accounts of this letter appear to be a love-hate relationship since the crypto was developed as a joke in 2013. Markus claimed that he stepped down from Dogecoin in 2015 as a result of online harassment from the community. He also said that he stepped down since he was uncomfortable with the direction that the community was taking.
In the same year, the founder said that he also encountered financial issues as a result of losing his job and he decided to cash in his DOGE funds:
“I gave away and/or sold all the crypto I had back in 2015 after being laid off and scared about my dwindling savings at the time, for about enough in total to buy a used Honda Civic.”
Markus Claims DOGE Is Overvalued
The explosive surge in the value of the coin seems to mean very little to Markus, who questions what the real value of DOGE is, he said that he cannot understand the discussions of a rally to $1 because it would give an unproductive meme coin a market cap comparable to many of the leading US companies.
“People are talking about Dogecoin going to $1 – that would make the ‘market cap’ larger than actual companies that provide services to millions, such as Boeing, Starbucks, American Express, IBM. Does Dogecoin deserve that? That is not something I cannot comprehend, let alone answer.”
Markus says that the true value of Dogecoin is in the community and its possibility to do some good. He explained that if the community embodies empathy, joy, creativity, kindness, fun, and absurdity, that this is the real value of DOGE.
His letter follows some renewed interest and speculation in DOGE with the coin’s price gaining 50% after Elon Musk tweeted that it was “the people’s crypto” on February 4. In 2019, Musk was elected as the hypothetical CEO by the Dogecoin community in a Twitter poll. Since then, he has jokingly acquired the title of “former CEO of Dogecoin.”
On February 11, Musk acquired some DOGE for his 9-month-old son so that he could become a “toddler hodler”. On his part, Markus views the interest of the world’s richest man as quite surreal. He said:
“I’m half detached, but it’s weird that something I made in a few hours is now part of internet culture. It’s amusing to see Elon Musk talk about it. It feels silly, but there’s this huge upwelling behind it.”
Some believe that Markus is just bitter since he let go too early but he insists that DOGE is overvalued.
