- Markus earns the DOGE community’s deepest respect for rejecting the offer.
- Markus responded that he only chose what he felt was right.
Twitter DOGE community has applauded Billy Markus, Dogecoin co-founder, who rejected a considerable offer to betray the DOGE community. The bribe attempt of 10 billion DOGE (about $14 million) wanted Markus to promote another project known as project Dogecoin but which is built on the Ethereum network. Respected DOGE community member, Vee, revealed the offer via Twitter on Thursday.
⚠️ IMPORTANT!
Billy was offered to get 10B DC from Dogechain to promote their project.
That is, at the current price, 14 MILLION DOLLARS.@BillyM2k turning down this much money to avoid betraying your community is worthy of our deepest respect. pic.twitter.com/3YyAfXfA1X
— Vee (@RepeatAfterVee) August 25, 2022
Vee further said that Markus’s gesture was noble, given that he couldn’t afford to purchase a home. He also said it is unlikely that any other Dogecoin founder would have taken a similar action under the same circumstances. The DOGE community member said many other DOGE influencers had betrayed the community in the past to make quick bucks and fund their lavish lifestyles.
Markus reacts
In his response, the Dogecoin co-founder said he didn’t protect the DOGE community from anything since everyone has the free will to decide and do whatever pleases them. He also reiterated Vee’s comments that many crypto players wouldn’t mind betraying a whole project or doing anything illegal so long it puts money in their pockets.
Markus added that many crypto investors only gamble with their money. Also, they will always validate their actions. Thus, making it almost impossible to convince them otherwise. However, Markus further said he chose not to encourage anyone to take an action that doesn’t sit right with him.
to be fair i personally don’t think we can protect “the community” from anything since people are free to make their own decisions and the huge majority of people in crypto couldn’t care less about anything but making money
all you’ll see is things repeat themselves forever
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) August 25, 2022
He also said he doesn’t think he must encourage people to buy DOGE. Markus believes anyone willing to invest must understand such an investment before committing their money to it. The Dogecoin co-founder stated again that he remains committed to the DOGE community and will never betray it for anything.
He also said he continues to protect the community from the bad actors. Markus’ strong DOGE stance might be one of the reasons he blocked fellow Dogecoin founder Jack Palmer. Despite being one of Dogecoin’s founders, Palmer has been highly critical of the project and the crypto industry.
Read more: Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer slams the crypto industry for capitalism
However, some crypto advocates on Twitter condemned Markus’ action. They claim that he has taken his pro-DOGE advocacy too far by blocking the DOGE co-founder. Earlier in the year, Markus threatened Matt Wallace (a popular YouTuber) with a lawsuit over his attempts at abusing the DOGE trademark for selfish gains.
Wallace planned to launch a digital currency known as accept DOGE under the pretense of encouraging the broader adoption of Dogecoin among popular businesses. However, Markus and the DOGE community weren’t comfortable with Wallace’s plan.
Hence, they asked the YouTuber to change his token’s name or risk facing a legal battle with the DOGE community. Thus, Wallace changed the proposed name of his token to accept cryptocurrency (ACEPT). Sadly, there was a rug pull on the project soon afterward, and the token’s value declined to almost nothing.
