Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer said it irked him when the currency surged in the 2021 meme-trading frenzy.
Palmer told Insider he sees Elon Musk’s Dogecoin support as him “building an army” of misfit communities.
The engineer has traded jabs with the billionaire in the past.
Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer said it bothered him when Elon Musk and WallStreetBets’ copycat Reddit group SatoshiBets attempted to send the meme currency “to the moon” last year.
In an interview with Insider, Palmer said he’s grown weary of being “dragged” into conversations around the currency he helped create over eight years ago. At the time, he saw Dogecoin as a “hobby’ — now he said it’s become a nuisance.
“It all kind of annoyed me because it was this thing that had my name tied to it. I don’t think people realize it, but I wish that when something happened with Dogecoin and Elon Musk and my Dogecoin cofounder Billy [Markus] that I didn’t get dragged back into it,” Palmer said.
“Even when I had completely deleted all social media it continued to follow me around like a bad smell,” he added.
The Adobe engineer told Insider he wasn’t surprised when Musk began promoting Dogecoin on Twitter as early as 2019.
The billionaire appears to be close friends with the other creator of Dogecoin, Billy Markus. Musk has said he’s worked with developers on the digital currency in the past and that he supports Dogecoin in an effort to be an ally to “people who are not that wealthy.”
In 2021, Musk was one of the currency’s biggest proponents — often sending Dogecoin’s price soaring with a single tweet. He even revealed plans to launch a crypto-themed satellite named “Doge-1” to the moon this year.
But, Palmer said he sees Musk’s interest in Dogecoin as a tactic, a means to “latch onto communities” in an effort to “absorb them into his cult of personality.”
“He does this on several topics. Look at how a lot of the free speech, right-wingers have all kind of become big Elon Musk supporters,” Palmer told Insider. “That’s beneficial to him because he’s kind of building his army, taking in the tribes of all these different kinds of misfit communities that are extremely dedicated and extremely passionate.”
A spokesperson for Musk did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication.
It’s not the first time that Palmer has commented on the richest man in the world. Earlier this year, the Dogecoin co-creator called Musk a “grifter” and accused the Tesla CEO of being unable to run basic code, citing an instance several years ago when the billionaire allegedly didn’t know how to run a Python script that Palmer sent him.
The engineer told Insider he hasn’t communicated with Musk since, but the billionaire was quick to slam Palmer on Twitter over his comments. In a series of tweets, Musk said his kids could have written better code at the age of 12 and alleged Palmer “never wrote a single line of Dogecoin code.”
The Dogecoin creator said it was a sobering incident, as Musk fans descended on him.
“I’ve made a conscious effort since then to not talk about him because it’s not worth it. I can let them have their fantasies,” Palmer said.
“I used to be a lot more willing to get into the debates and have online debates. But, I don’t think they’re a very useful thing to do anymore. My approach is just to say what I’m thinking and try to be as objective as possible and just say, ‘This is what I believe in, take it or leave it,'” he added.
Palmer isn’t the only one who’s questioned Musk’s support of the meme currency. On Tuesday, seven new plaintiffs entered an ongoing $258 billion lawsuit against the billionaire. The lawsuit was originally filed in June, and alleges that Musk and his companies are promoting a “crypto pyramid scheme.”
Read the full interview with Palmer here.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Related Quotes
Lottery officials told the man his ticket wasn’t worth anything close to $600.
Conor McGregor had only praise for longtime rival and "bonafide superstar" Nate Diaz ahead of his likely octagon farewell bout at UFC 279.
A little seaweed with that? Cowirrie/Flickr, CC BY-SAMethane is a short-lived but powerful greenhouse gas and the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. And the majority of human-induced methane emissions comes from livestock. About 70% of agricultural methane comes from enteric fermentation – chemical reactions in the stomachs of cows and other grazing animals as they break down plants. The animals burp out most of this methane and pass the rest as flatulence. There
Elon Musk keeps finding new reasons why he believes he can back out of his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter. In a Sept. 9 letter to Twitter, Musk’s lawyers called out the social network’s separation agreement with Peiter “Mudge” Zatko — its former head of security who was fired in January — under which […]
Some said they "can't breathe" seeing the house.
As Chargers pass rusher Khalil Mack prepares to face the Raiders on Sunday, he’s not thinking about revenge. Mack was drafted by the Raiders in 2014 and traded to the Bears amid a contract dispute in 2018. Now he’s been traded to the Chargers and will face the Raiders in Week One, but he says [more]
Georgia prosecutors used the silly exchange between the jailed rapper and champion swimmer to win a key ruling in RICO case
Conor McGregor isn't a fan of how the UFC handled Khamzat Chimaev.
The country made history in legalizing Bitcoin, but it is now suffering the consequences. What went wrong is a cautionary tale for crypto.
UFC has released footage of the backstage altercations with Nate Diaz, Kevin Holland, and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279 news conference.
"Sex can be so traumatic I think," wrote the "Live With Kelly and Ryan" host.
An LAPD officer is under investigation for arresting a teenager who was filming officers as they detained a friend.
A former elementary school principal was accused of abusing a 9-year-old student after video showed him shoving the child to the ground, officials said Thursday
"Harry's very polite and charming."
The twenty-first century had been one of triumph for the Chinese Communist Party. As governments in the U.S. and Europe mishandled one calamity after another — from the 2008 financial crisis to botched efforts to contain COVID-19 — even champions of liberal democracy looked on with envy as China’s policy makers navigated the same troubled waters with apparent ease. “There has been a certain sort of envy in the West of what appeared to be the extraordinary competence of China’ policymakers, but at the moment the emperor has no clothes,” said Jeremy Mark, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an expert on Asian economies.
A TikTok video about In-N-Out fries went viral, but employees are begging people to stop ordering them this way. Here's why.
Disney has knocked off one of Nintendo's biggest products as the gaming company prepares to take on Disney World, Disneyland.
Westbrook has asked for a trade, but wouldn't mind one, either.
Gainesville police released bodycam of the arrest of Terrell Bradley, who lost his eye after an incident with a K-9.
Manu Ginóbili spent all 16 of his NBA seasons in San Antonio and is one of just two players to win NBA and Euroleague titles as well as Olympic gold.
Author
Administraroot
