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Comment by rglullis | Hacker News Reader

The thing I don't understand, though... why not just use bitcoin to do it?

It was BTC that found a way "to send really small amounts of money through the internet". No need to invent a niche.

To me it looks like the ones using dogecoin don't want to think of it as money, but just some other form of internet points like karma.

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You can't send really small amount of Bitcoin, there is a cutoff to stop you "spamming" the network unless you also send a fee.

Also the mission statement of Bitcoin and Dogecoin are different.

Bitcoin is looking to replace world currency transactions by a secure peer-to-peer distributed network resistant to external attack through utilization of blah blah blah snooze.

Dogecoin is going to the moon.

>You can't send really small amount of Bitcoin, there is a cutoff to stop you "spamming" the network unless you also send a fee.

Right, and Dogecoin is very quickly going to run up against the problems associated with a many-gigabyte blockchain.

A gigabyte block chain doesn't matter on the moon.

I agree, let me give you 0.0000005 BTC. Or I could give you 100 DOGE.

If you are being sarcastic, I am missing it. If in the end of the day both can buy the same thing, why should I care how big or how small the numbers are?

Because you're human, and humans are irrationally attracted to larger numbers through anchoring and other effects.

Use satoshis. It's just another unit like cents. Who cares what the base unit is worth...

Had bitcoin started with the satoshi as its base unit (i.e. what is called a satoshi was just called a bitcoin) then we might not be having this discussion.

But they didn't, and marketing matters.

Lets say I want to tip you roughly 10 cents.

I can send 0.0001 BTC Or 10000 Satoshi

BTC is too big. Satoshi is too small, something in between is just ... nice.

Nope. I am sorry. i don't buy it. There is no anchoring involved when the new currency is still not used to determine prices. People that still want to use dogecoin as actual money will have to do the conversion anyway. the large number will mean nothing when they cash out and realize that their MILLIONS of DOGE won't be enough to buy them a sandwich. Ask people in Zimbabwe if they care about carrying thousands of dollars in their wallets. they dont. such zeroes, many numbers, no actual purchasing power.

So it's because it looks better? You could always say "here, have 500 Satoshis".

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Satoshi

Here's 5400 Satoshi, actually. There's a dust limit to prevent micro cent spamming.

Just to be clear, Doge tipping is mostly not happening on the blockchain. These transactions are only transacting on the chain when people cash in or out of a tipbot.

People are dismissing this too easily. Looks matter, a lot. Tipping is an emotional connection - it's not a logical transaction. The tipper is making a contribution to something he likes. Giving 0.000000005 BTC gives the tipper and tippee an emotional message that his work isn't worth much. 100 DOGE makes it seem less petty. It's like giving a chocolate bar as a gift instead of $2 - you will get far more favorable reactions to the chocolate bar than a 'useless' $2.

I addition to the psychology of large numbers, there is a technical reason - the Doge network confirms transactions faster. (Arguably not a necessary feature for tipping, but again, the aesthetics are more pleasing.)

Bitcoin is terrifying to someone who has read stories of hacks and theft for a few years as an outsider, so "The one that no one takes seriously yet" is comforting.

bitcoin also takes itself very, very seriously which raises the bar for entry by normal people. Why would you use dogecoin when you could have all the fedora wearing neckbeard libertarian preaching?

The nicest thing you can say about being associated with Bitcoin is that it's "seedy".

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