[ Decrypt ] Dogecoin Foundation Returns With Elon Musk Rep, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin as Advisors

The core developers behind Dogecoin, the meme cryptocurrency that seeks to be a global payment method, have announced the members of the renewed Dogecoin Foundation. Its new advisory board includes Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Elon Musk representative Jared Birchall, according to a statement shared today by the foundation.

Three prominent Dogecoin community members, Gary Lachance, Jens Wiechers and Timothy Stebbing, as well as core devs Michi Lumin and Ross Nicoll, are on the foundation’s board.

Prior to the launch of its manifesto on Sunday, Nicoll told Decrypt that the foundation “doesn’t replace the existing developers, but provides a structure to hire full-time staff to work on Dogecoin, including engineers.”

The manifesto declares that “We are Dogecoin, the accidental crypto-movement that makes people smile.” It declares that its goal is to develop “a currency for the people.”

However, while it has a manifesto and website, the foundation—unlike those maintained by other cryptocurrencies including Ethereum and Cardano—is not yet a legal entity, according to Nicoll. The team is still working to get final details in place and have not yet announced its headquarters or roadmap.

Elon Musk had been advising the core team of developers since he was voted Dogecoin CEO in 2019. Their plans are nothing less than to make the cryptocurrency, which started out as a joke, a viable payment method—one that can routinely be used to buy a cup of coffee, as Decrypt exclusively revealed in May.

And to put them into action the Dogecoin team has assembled an impressive cast of advisers.

Musk is represented by Jared Birchall, a former senior vice president at Morgan Stanley, and a long-standing associate of Musk’s. He is on the board of the Musk Foundation and is the manager of Tesla and SpaceX chief’s family office.

Billy Markus, who founded Dogecoin alongside Jackson Palmer, is also on the advisory board, alongside longtime developer Max Keller and Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin.  

To many, the Ethereum cofounder would appear an unlikely choice as an advisor, but he’s been very positive about Dogecoin in the past and has even hinted at a collaboration with Ethereum.