An auditorium was filled up in San Francisco on Friday with Dogecoin users attending a conference on the alternative currency’s success and growth as it continues to gain popularity. The Friday conference brought hundreds of users of the alternative coin together to hear people speak about Dogecoin’s development and future.

The Dogecoin event was free, but donations were welcome and encouraged. More ore than 900 people registered for the conference, which was planned in a very short period of time. The crowd filled the entire auditorium, as the keynote address was given and the conference followed. According to what was said in the keynote, $150,000 had been transferred using dogetipbot, which is a software that allows users of social media site reddit to tip each other in Dogecoin. One user even brought a Shiba Inu dog to the conference, which is the mascot on the Dogecoin currency that nearly everyone has probably seen on the internet in a meme somewhere, and who uses phrases like “much coin,” and “how money”.

Dogecoin’s success, as an alternative currency, has been nothing short of impressive, as it continues to gain popularity. The coin, which was introduced back in late 2013 and actually named for a popular but goofy internet meme, functions similarly to the popular Bitcoin, and is used as an open source file-sharing internet currency, especially popular with its community of users on reddit. Dogecoin can be transferred anywhere and can be used to exchange services, but has gained the most attention for being used for good causes.

In the past, Dogecoin donated 14 million Dogecoins to Kenya for clean water. In the Dogecoin currency, the Dogecoin community raised the equivalent of over $30,000 for the cause. However, the cryptocurrency has most recently been used for sponsoring a NASCAR car, which garnered Dogecoin a substantial amount of attention. Being the main sponsor on the car would cost around 50,000, and the Dogecoin community managed to pull it off using 67 million raised Dogecoins. In addition, the fundraiser was done in a record amount of time, according to a spokesperson for the Dogecoin Foundation. The NASCAR sponsorship is one of the largest ones that has been done by Dogecoin to date.

However, this is not to say that people are not using Dogecoin for personal reasons as well. Just this past March, a man announced that he would be selling his home for Dogecoin. The 27-year-old man, an entrepreneur who has been a supporter of online currency for years, is offering up his vacation home for $135,000, or 100 million in Dogecoin. The seller claimed that he sees potential in offering to take Dogecoin as a form of payment as well, and thinks that this will aid in attracting potential buyers.

Though alternative currencies such as Dogecoin may have been something that not many people took seriously a couple of years ago, the online coin continues to gain popularity and is really starting to pick up momentum. More people are gaining interest in Dogecoin as something that can actually be utilized in their buying and selling exchanges, they see that it’s potential is great, and it’s clear that its become far more than just a silly meme now.

By Laura Clark

Sources:

CNN

International Business Times UK

Coin Desk

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