Mobile apps development firm AppSwarm Corp and blockchain research lab and startup accelerator DogeLabs.Io plan to build out a global Dogecoin development team that will focus on building applications on top of the memecoin's blockchain.
DogeLabs.io, a company focused on developing commercial apps around the Dogecoin protocol, said the newly formed DevOps teams would share ideas and support Dogecoin-based apps. AppSwarm is a publicly traded, over-the-counter company that develops mobile-based apps for business enterprise, e-commerce and retail, and the gaming industry. It filed to sell securities in the U.S. in September 2019, but the Securities and Exchange Commission apparently did not allow the effort to proceed.
The research lab is still in the hiring process but it plans to set up its DogeLabs DevOps teams in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. It will be responsible for expanding the projects related to the Shiba Inu-themed DOGE.
Dogecoin's blockchain development has been more sporadic than those for other top coins. Over the last six years very little has been done with the base layer code. Prior to the recent Dogecoin Core 1.14.3 release on Feb. 28, the last major development was posted on Nov. 8, 2019. There have been notable gaps between Nov. 10, 2015, and Feb. 4, 2018, where no updates were published at all.
DogeLabs said it would also be building out a support program for new developers who wish to get involved in building on top of the Dogecoin blockchain with Github labs, developer docs, open Discord discussions and Slack development teams. There is no mention in the company statement, however, of supporting developers who will help maintain and build the actual Dogecoin blockchain.
"While we build out our own development teams here in New York City and [Tulsa, Okla.] the plan is to also bring together developers from around the world who wish to build off the Doge blockchain,” said Tom Bustamante, CEO of DogeLabs.
The meme-based cryptocurrency was co-created and launched on Dec. 3, 2013, by Jackson Palmer as a joke. Dogecoin is based on Bitcoin’s codebase and was forked from Litecoin.
“From the Dallas Mavericks to SpaceX DOGE-1 Moon project, doge is quickly going from a joke MEME coin to an actual form of currency payment with real organizations. DogeLabs’ goal is to encourage new use cases around the Doge protocol, which could include DeFi (decentralized finance) applications,” said Bustamante.
DogeLabs said it is also seeking investment partners across the globe.