The Dogecoin Foundation Creates A Core Development Fund With 5M DOGE

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The Dogecoin Foundation has launched a core development fund funded with 5 million DOGE sparking speculation that it is returning the 5 million DOGE it took from the famous DOGE tip jar.

The Dogecoin Foundation has created a core development fund, per a blog post shared on Twitter today.

Exciting news to end 2022 on!https://t.co/6y20WIf5Aj

— Dogecoin Foundation (@DogecoinFdn) December 31, 2022

As the name implies, the fund will support core development activities on the network. Current core developers and signatories to the Dogecoin Foundation board will manage it, per the blog post. The foundation promises to release posts to disclose any expenditure.

Meanwhile, the community can also track transactions of the address on the blockchain.

The Dogecoin Foundation disclosed that it had funded the multisig address with 5 million DOGE. Notably, the wallet has 5 custodians, including core developers and members of the Dogecoin Foundation, and needs at least 3 signatories to carry out transactions. Following the release of a new Dogecoin Core version, 500,000 DOGE will be distributed among contributors following the process formerly employed with the famous tip jar.

While not explicitly stated, Mishaboar (@Mishaboar), a respected Dogecoin community influencer, has drawn links between the 5 million DOGE fund and the 5 million DOGE the Dogecoin Foundation took from the DOGE tip jar at the end of last year to cover Dogecoin Foundation expenses in January 2022 allegedly. Notably, at the time, the transaction had sparked controversy and even outrage within some community quarters. This is because community members previously believed the network reserved these funds for funding core development activity alone.

For context, the foundation supports the Dogecoin network through advocacy and non-blockchain or core development efforts alone.

However, Dogecoin Foundation Product Lead Timothy Stebbing has denied claims that the fund was used for foundation expenses. Instead, Stebbing asserts that funds were sold to hedge against an expected price crash which eventually happened.

There was no specific plan to spend it on anything in particular AFAIAK, core or otherwise, it was a hedge against the price crash (which incidentally happened).

— Timothy Stebbing (@tjstebbing) December 31, 2022

Notably, the allocation of funds from the tip jar has caused intense debates within the community. Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus clarified that developers never created the tip jar to fund core development activity specifically but as a means of appreciation for specific individuals working on the project at the time. Consequently, Markus believes that the allocation of the funds is not the community’s concern but the holders’ business. 

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