Unveiling the Pre-2014 Crypto Project of Dogecoin's Founder

• The Revival of BELLS: The Predecessor to Dogecoin
• Dogecoin's 10th Anniversary Inspires the Revival of BELLS
• Dogecoin Founder's BELLS Revived
• The Future of BELLS

The Revival of BELLS: The Predecessor to Dogecoin

Prior to the creation of the widely recognized meme-inspired cryptocurrency, Dogecoin$0.091 -0.42%, Billy Markus developed an experimental digital token in 2013 named BELLS. However, this project was quickly set aside when Markus introduced Dogecoin shortly thereafter. Dogecoin swiftly gained a colossal following and has maintained its popularity for almost a decade. Now, nine years post its creation, a small group has impressively resurrected the long-dormant BELLS cryptocurrency network.

Dogecoin's 10th Anniversary Inspires the Revival of BELLS

On December 5th, 2023, Dogecoin marked its 10th anniversary. This notable milestone sparked interest in Dogecoin enthusiast, Adam McBride, who stumbled upon Markus' 2013 Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% Talk forum post announcing a new cryptocurrency project: BELLS. Intrigued by the potential of this abandoned project, McBride consulted his friend and highly skilled developer, Luke Wright, to discern if BELLS could be brought back to life after a decade of inactivity.

Dogecoin Founder's BELLS Revived

After some initial investigation, Wright validated that the original BELLS network and blockchain ceased operation back in late 2014. Community versions managed to survive a few more years but were eventually abandoned. In a mere two hours, however, Wright resuscitated the first version of BELLS using the archived source code and bootstrapped enough network nodes to regain functionality.

Following several days of troubleshooting issues related to connectivity and consensus, McBride announced that BELLS is once again fully operational in its initial 2013 form. Despite its revival, BELLS has not seen any significant adoption, as most of its potential user base was absorbed by the sudden popularity of Dogecoin in December 2013.

The Future of BELLS

It remains to be seen if this historical blockchain revival will incite renewed interest for usage and development, or if it will remain a relic from the early pioneering days of cryptocurrencies.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker