For the first time since 2002, Jamaican bobsledders have qualified for the Olympics, and it's one of those feel-good news events that sends waves of nostalgic, feel-good vibes through any and every decent human being with a love for John Candy. The Guardian even referred to this blurring of lines between reality and classic 90s comedy as “Cool Runnings II.”
But qualifying for Sochi isn't the same as actually getting there. Winston Watt, the driving half of Jamaica's two-man team, admitted to the Telegraph that the team might not even have enough funding to get themselves to Sochi in the first place. Cue the crowdfunding campaign. Oh, and since this is 2014, that means Dogecoin.
On the official Jamaican bobsleigh team’s website, which greets you with a poppy dancehall track about the bobsled team itself, team donations can be made by purchasing a copy of the e-book Cool Runnings and Beyond: The Story of the Jamaica Bobsleigh Team. (Never has an American film had such staying power in the niche culture of Caribbean winter sports.)
The team is reportedly looking for between $40,000 and $80,000 dollars to cover new equipment and travel costs. It's as yet unclear how close they are to meeting that target, it turns out the the unlikely Shiba Inu-based virtual currency has just brought that goal a bit closer to reality.
Yesterday, a post went up on the Dogecoin subreddit calling for the community to donate their doges, which can be converted into bitcoins and then to USD, so the Jamaicans can bobsled with the best of them. Through the Dogecoin Foundation, a portal for charities and other causes that accept donations in Dogecoin—like the League Against AIDS and a dental clinic in Kansas—a donation page was started specifically for people to throw doges at the planet’s most lovable Bobsledders.
Within a day, over 26 million doges, which is worth over $30,000 USD at current exchange rates, were generated and donated to the Jamaican Bobsled team. It appears that the dogecoins were first traded into Bitcoin before they were sent to the Jamaican sled masters.
There’s a lot of deserved high-fiving and self-congratulating going on in the Dogecoin subreddit right now, with some users hoping the team will put a Dogecoin logo on the side of their Bobsled and others, like Reddit user JLWDGCSU, putting this whole charitable partnership into perspective: “This is history right here. Dogecoin and The Jamaican Bobsled Team unite. 2 things people originally took as a joke but have risen against all odds.”
I spoke to Liam, the guy who’s currently maintaining the Dogecoin foundation site, about this incredibly quick fundraising success.
“While I'd love to take credit for the fundraising drive for the Jamaican bobsled team, it really comes down to the tremendous effort and generosity of the Dogecoin community as a whole," he said. "The idea itself came independently from a number of people and the response we have received has far exceeded our expectations; it's the very thing that we believe sets Dogecoin apart from the scores of other cryptocurrencies available.”
As a nice bonus for Dogecoin holders, the currency’s value has spiked upwards in the past day or so. Call it the John Candy effect, I suppose. While the Jamaican bobsled team has yet to comment on this Dogecoin drive—comment may be pending them figuring out how to actually use their new cryptocurrency funds—I imagine they are such excite about the news.