Dogecoin Startup Goes Open Source as Creator Says ‘Peace Out’ to Crypto

The creator of micropayments startup dogetipbot has announced he will open-source the payments tool, just over one year after raising $445,000 from Blackbird Ventures.

In a post on his Facebook page obtained by CoinDesk, dogetipbot's Josh Mohland announced he will return the project to the bitcoin and dogecoin cryptocurrency communities, though the tone of his messages was at some times pointed when addressing its members.

Mohland wrote:

"I'll be open-sourcing dogetipbot and giving a friendly 'peace out' to cryptocurrency in general. Friendly is a nice way to put it, I think."

Founded in 2014, dogetipbot was one of a handful of digital currency micropayments startups to gain traction and investment alongside companies including ChangeTip and Zapchain, though it focused more on the alternative cryptocurrency dogecoin.

However, comments from Mohland indicate dogetipbot was unable to profit from its early product aimed at this use case, and that community support for the project may have been an issue.

In statements, Mohland called working with existing financial systems “more profitable and desirable” for users, adding that he believes the technology is a "solution looking for a problem".

"Most of our users want USD at the end of the day and don't like PayPal. Bitcoin as a solution just didn't fit or make sense when we were building our banking relationships anyway," he told CoinDesk.

Mohland is currently working on another payments startup called HoneyLedger that similarly aims to empower online content creators. Despite the name, however, it is not a blockchain or distributed ledger project.

"HoneyLedger is a 100% traditional fintech product – no blockchain tech in there at all," he said.

HoneyLedger has indicated it aims to launch APIs in the coming weeks.

Image via Dogecoin