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DOGE Founder Shares Code to Remove Inflation, Musk Calls Inflation “A Feature”
- Elon Musk has said Dogecoin’s inflationary tokenomics, which add just over 5 billion coins to the circulating supply each year is “a feature, not a bug”.
- Musk’s comments came after Dogecoin founder Billy Markus posted on X / Twitter to tell the community exactly what code to change to remove the inflation, before telling people to stop bothering him about it.
- Many people consider Dogecoin’s inflationary supply as ideal for a coin intended to be used as a currency as it helps to keep the price low and encourages people to spend rather than hold — some in the community, though, would prefer to see it removed so the price rises more quickly.
Too much DOGE is never enough! At least that’s what Elon Musk, the richest, smartest, handsomest and most efficient man in the universe says.
There’s long been consternation in the Dogecoin community over the coin’s inflationary tokenomics — billions of DOGE are added to the circulating supply every year, potentially suppressing price. Apparently sick of hearing all this consternation, the creator of Dogecoin, Billy Markus took to X / Twitter yesterday to tell the community the specific code to change to get rid of the inflation, before politely asking the community to stop bothering him about it.
Mr. Efficiency himself, Elon Musk, then weighed in, characterising inflation as beneficial:
I think the flat inflation of Dogecoin, which means decreasing percentage inflation, is a feature, not a bug.
Elon Musk, Public sector efficiency consultant Related: Super Doginals Hits Dogecoin Blockchain with Free Doge-Themed Beat-‘Em-Up Game
Markus: Here’s The Code Now Stop F*cking Bothering Me
As with most cryptocurrencies, DOGE owners generally consider inflationary supply a bad thing because more inflation usually means less lambos. Inflationary tokenomics usually puts significant downward pressure on price, and — despite everyone in crypto definitely being it in for the tech — they’d also very much like to dive into an enormous vault full of money like Scrooge McDuck.
Dogecoin’s tokenomic model adds just over 5 billion new coins into circulation every year (10,000 DOGE per minute) — it’s a flat rate of inflation, so over time the percentage being added declines. There have long been calls from the Dogecoin community to remove this inflation so the price skyrockets and everyone gets rich. Judging from his colourful language, i.e. “stop f*cking bothering me about it”, it seems Markus is getting pretty sick of this.
While public sector efficiency consultant and emerging comic book-style super-villain, Elon Musk said he sees Dogecoin’s flat inflation rate as a ‘feature’, he didn’t expand on why, likely for the sake of increased efficiency.
Markus, however, responded to Musk saying that he thinks the rate of inflation is ideal for something intended to be used as a currency, as opposed to a store of value.
Investment guru and entrepreneur, Mark ‘Cubes’ Cuban, has also previously shared his thoughts on Dogecoin’s tokenomics, posting on Twitter in 2021 that the inflationary model keeps the price low, allowing DOGE to remain accessible to regular people and encouraging them to spend rather than hold it:
Related: Trump Unleashes Musk on D.O.G.E. Office as Dogecoin Vaults to Top Six
Since Trump’s re-election last week the price of DOGE has soared, according to CoinGecko it’s almost tripled in price from just over US$0.14 on November 5 to US$0.42 on November 12. The announcement of the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE) to be run by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy has played a part in this pump.
Author
Jody McDonald
Jody is a Brisbane-based freelance writer who specialises in writing about business, technology, and the future of work.
