Las Vegas Loop System to Allow Use of Dogecoin as Payment Instrument

At a time when the uncertainty of the crypto economy is giving investors sleepless nights, tech CEO and founder of Tesla Elon Musk is on a mission to promote the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Musk’s Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction services firm, recently announced the use of Dogecoin as a payment instrument for a ride on the Las Vegas transit system.

Dogecoin hit the market in 2013 as a joke but it has become an important of the crypto economy thanks to Elon Musk’s continuous support of it, evident in his efforts to make it more popular. Although the cryptocurrency has witnessed about 4000% growth last year, it is facing a significant downward trend in current times.

What Is the Las Vegas Loop System?

The Las Vegas loop system consists of underground tunnels constructed right beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center. These tunnels would help the visitors travel in human-driven Tesla vehicles from one end to the other. These Tesla vehicles unlike their high-occupancy counterparts running at 150 mph, would operate at a much lower speed of 35 mph. However, as per the Boring Company, this would not stay for a long time. Soon the Musk-led firm would enable automation with automatic vehicles and also enable high-speed transportation in the future.

The Las Vegas Convention Center already has a total of three stops. The newly opened Loop station is the first of its kind outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it will not have underground connectivity with the Convention Center’s current stops.

Future Plans

As part of its future plans, the firm will expand the system by building over 50 stations that would include stops such as the casinos, the Allegiant Stadium, the resorts and so on. As of now, travellers need not pay anything to use the transit system. Though Boring Company has not revealed the date it will stop giving the rides to the travellers for free, the Vegas Loop’s website displays the cost for single rides as $1.50 and $2.50 for the day passes. At the new Resorts World station, the riders can scan a QR code to buy the ticket either through Dogecoin or through their credit cards in addition to physical currency.

The Boring Company is also aiming to carry almost 400 passengers every hour from Resorts World, however, the fact that there is just one tunnel connecting it to the Convention Center would mean the vehicles don’t depart as per any schedule with riders having to wait for their turns. However, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokesperson Lori Nelson-Kraft, the ride would still be a swift one.

As per CNN Business’s communication with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Loop had already transported over 400,000 attendees and boasts of an average satisfaction score of 4.9/5.

The Boring Company is an Elon Musk-led infrastructure company that builds quick-to-dig, economical and safe tunnels for transportation, freight and utility purposes. Apart from Las Vegas, the company is also engaged with projects across Texas and Florida.