Dogecoin core developer steps down from the project as being ‘overwhelmed’ with stress

Dogecoin developer Ross Nicoll is stepping down from the popular meme coin, citing stress and conflict of interest as reasons.

Dogecoin loses its core developer

Almost all of us know Dogecoin for being the likable meme cryptocurrency inofficially chaired by Elon Musk. But only the most hardcore Dogecoin enthusiasts will be aware of the people behind the project. One of them is Ross Nicoll, the former core developer of the Dogecoin Foundation.

Nicoll published his letter of resignation on February 16, saying that he was overwhelmed with stress and citing a conflict of interest between working on Dogecoin and working on his day job, which is shifting to the blockchain industry. Over the transition period of four to eight weeks, Nicoll said that he would remain as an advisor to the project, adding that his main concern was unknown third parties claiming to be the coin’s core developers. 

In his explanation of the overall situation of the Dogecoin Foundation, Nicoll quoted several trademarks being registered under Dogecoin as the main challenge in 2021. A key challenge of the Dogecoin community is to cooperate to avoid exposing the Foundation to legal risks. The extremely challenging environment the Foundation is operating in causes every step of the process to be more complex than the previous one, but Nicoll was bullish about the progress the Foundation is making. 

How this will affect Dogecoin

Since having its heyday in spring 2021, when Dogecoin was one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies per market capitalization, the popular meme coin has seen its value significantly diminish. DOGE is down more than 70% from its all-time high in May 2021 and currently trades around $0.17 AUD. The reasons for this price crash are manyfold.

First, DOGE was never going to maintain the astronomic price surge it experienced in the first half of 2021. Propelled by a flurry of Elon Musk tweets, its price exploded in value right when the “meme coin/stock” frenzy hit its absolute peak. After all, the value of DOGE is only speculative, so a cool-off period was assured.

Second, DOGE surged in price right when Bitcoin hit the first peak of its double-top chart pattern in 2021. Naturally, with Bitcoin at record levels, the tide lifted all remaining boats as well. With Dogecoin being the hot commodity of spring 2021, a correction in the price of BTC also meant a correction for DOGE. Unfortunately for DOGE, Bitcoin is now facing more headwinds on several fronts, meaning that investors are far less likely to invest in speculative meme coins.

Finally, the departure of a key developer like Nicoll and ongoing uncertainty about Dogecoin’s undefined utility further weigh on its short-term prospects. Even compared to a meme coin like Shiba Inu, Dogecoin looks old and out of date, hanging on to its Musk-boosted glory days of old. If the Dogecoin community and the Dogecoin Foundation want to avert DOGE slowly bleeding out, they will have to do a strategic 180 and start by hiring a new lead developer that can implement it.