As someone with years of marketing experience working for the biggest ad agency in the world, I would suggest staying away from symbolism like a dharma wheel.
A white elephant outline is neutral, and would work much better (as a brand) than something that means different things to different people (and would cause many others to become indifferent to Karmacoin).
i.e., come up with something new. The elephant is good. Just make it outstanding and emotionally appealing.
The simpler the logo the better. If I was to design it, I would do something completely different. A blue and red logo like the old Pepsi logo but leaning towards a horizontal yin-yang and getting rid of the dots. Also, there's no need to put "Karmacoin" on the logo. (Such is the sign of an amateur.) The text can go next to it, on the right side.
This makes for a familiar symbol but still something new. Thing big picture and long term. As in, what symbol would make a 9 year-old in the Kenyan highlands smile when they see it just as well as an adult in Shoreditch?
Nevermind what you like. The question is, what would most of your potential users like?
A good logo could mean the difference between success and failure of a company (or coin). (But again, it's not what you think is good...)
its funny how you say that karmacoin should stay away from symbolism and then point to the pepsi logo (which is nothing more than a cheap knockoff of yinyang with the colors changed) as a good example.. lol
yinyang is a religious symbol used in both Daoism and Confucianism.. it also represents a balance of forces (light, dark, good, evil, man, woman etc) which is at odds with the Karma coin motto of "doing good is good" lol
please do not mix Karma with Dao they are completely different ideas and messagesit would be like calling your Coin the RepublicCoin and then using a Crown as your logo or having Easter coin with a picture of a Dog on it.
I agree simplicity is good and I agree that the elephant should stay.. having a mascot will help the cause.. so we should keep the message simple and NOT try to confuse people by mixing symbolism and ideologies.