I personally think Dogecoin is pretty genius. I know I am in a big minority here, but I don't see Dogecoin as being any more of a joke than any other cryptocurrency. Every single Cryptocurrency essentially amounts to a big pyramid scheme where early adopters are the ones who stand to gain the most if their crypto currency becomes "successful".

And success as far as Cryptocurrencies go, has a lot to do with how many people adopt it, mine it and are willing to trade and sell it or exchange it for services. Just like Pyramid schemes, it's all about marketing and getting enough people to buy into the system. And in that, Dogecoin has excelled because it has gotten average, non-technical folk interested and adopting it. Mostly for the lols, but it really doesn't matter why they are adopting it. What matters is that there are tons of folks who would never give a shit about more "elite" cryptocurrencies, who are setting up wallets, participating in the Doge community and also getting into mining.

Every other serious alt cryptocurrency here would absolutely love the same amount of exposure and interest that Doge has, except they don't want it to be because of a stupid dog meme. It hits a raw nerve because in a sense, it is a perfect parody of the entire cryptocurrency system.

I'm still mining Dogecoins just for fun and to throw them around at others on Reddit and elsewhere. The community is a lot more laid back than any other crypto community and while it would be great if it actually took off to be of some monetary significance, plenty of people are just happy mining and exchanging Doge for fun and have no misguided notions of all the riches they might accrue with Dogecoins.

In the end Dogecoins are great for the cryptocurrency community because it will get a lot of newbies into Cryptocurrencies, and inevitably, many will diversify and end up adopting other cryptocurrencies.

However, fundamentally, I dislike the basic premise of Cryptocurrencies where early adopters and those with lots of money to burn on expensive and pointless mining rigs essentially "Get rich". For something that is supposed to be so anti-establishment, I would have hoped people would have adopted a system that would be less likely to divide people into the Haves and Have-nots

While Doge currency also has these same issues, the easy availability of Doge coins and the willingness of the community to share the wealth makes it a lot more fun and worthwhile for outsiders and those new to cryptocurrencies. The unfortunate reality for hardcore cryptocurrency folks is that a fun/stupid meme coupled to a digital currency is a lot more endearing and interesting to the average person than some uber elite crypto currency that no one has heard about.