An effort to raise money for the Jamaican bobsleigh team using the meme-based crytocurrency Dogecoin has passed its $30,000 fundraising target in a day.
The Jamaican team look set to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, but said that they would need around an extra $40,000 in order to pay for equipment and travel to Russia.
FANS can now make a donation to our Jamaica Bobsleigh Team at http://t.co/f5FItpLRMl Thx #JamaicaBobsled #Sochi2014
After the story came to media attention, members of the Dogecoin community suggested using the virtual currency based on a picture of a baffled but placid Shiba Inu to raise money for the Jamaicans.
The Dogecoin Foundation set up the Dogesled website to encourage donations. In just over a day, the funding target has been passed.
Over 26million DOGE had been donated at the time of writing - which at the current value of Dogecoin is worth over $33,000. Although due to the potential volatility of Dogecoin's value - which could have seen the amount raised drop dramatically if the price crashed - the fundraising team (which includes Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer) have cashed out in order to convert "to a more stable currency":
Palmer says seperately that they have converted the funds into 35 Bitcoins, which tallies with the amount withdrawn from the fundraising wallet.
It's not clear where it will go from there, although a likely endpoint will be the the Jamaican team's newly-launched Indiegogo campaign, which is hoping to raise a total of $80,000.
The 2014 Winter Olympics begins in Sochi on 7 February.
Update: The Jamaican bobsleigh team will definitely be going to Sochi, after Jamaica's governing Olympic committee announced on Monday that it will provide all travel costs for the team to go to Russia.