Dogecoin was launched at the end of 2013 as a joke cryptocurrency, using the viral meme of a Shiba Inu as its symbol. Software engineers Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus purposefully created it to be “as ridiculous as possible,” but perhaps surprisingly, the coin has recently become seriously popular, thanks to a dedicated community and the backing of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Dogecoin now rests comfortably in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, with over $12 billion in value. It relies on a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm, which is not really scalable and doesn’t support smart contracts. Regardless of this, however, Dogecoin still has the potential to become compatible with decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). But how?
This is where Dogechain comes in. Dogechain is an innovative project that aims to uplift Dogecoin by bringing crypto apps related to DeFi and NFTs to the Doge community. Thanks to Dogechain, Doge will finally have some real utility, aside from simply being an investment tool.
What is Dogechain?
Unlike Dogecoin, Dogechain is a different blockchain that relies on a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, enabling fast and low-cost transactions. It is community-run, with the primary goal of bringing blockchain applications to the greater Dogecoin community.
The native token of Dogechain is $DC, of which 60% will be distributed to the community through various mechanisms. $DC tokens grant community members access to the Dogecoin Alliance Club community on Discord, free tickets to the Dogechain Conference (coming soon this year), and free access to many DeFi and NFT functionalities.
Dogechain has four main features that can give DOGE holders more opportunities in the DeFi world:
- It uses IBFT PoS consensus – Users can stake the wrapped DOGE to contribute to the security of Dogechain. Stakers receive rewards in the form of DC tokens, which can eventually be staked on a VC model for increased yields.
- It’s EVM-compatible – Dogechain can communicate with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), meaning existing Ethereum smart contracts can easily be migrated to Dogechain.
- It relies on Decentralized Governance – $DC holders can suggest proposals, delegate, vote on, and influence governance decisions.
- It’s designed as a cross-chain network – Dogecoin can easily be transferred to Dogechain (and vice versa) through a cross-chain bridge.
These features enable DOGE holders to readily access to the DeFi world without having to exchange their coins for ETH or other tokens.
Dogechain Consensus Algorithm
Dogechain’s IBFT PoS has built-in systems contracts that are used as a core consensus algorithm. The management of validators – along with their selection, reward distribution, and staking – are all performed automatically by these contracts (which are deployed in the genesis block):
- Governance Contract – handles validator proposals and votes.
- Validator Set Contract – ranks validators and automatically decides which are to be picked or removed.
- Vault Contract – ensures that all withdrawal fees on the chain-bridge are sent to the vault contract.
- Staking Contract – manages staking and unstaking operations, as well as the distribution of block rewards.
- Slashing Contract – is responsible for punishing validators who do not follow the rules of the chain.
- Bridging Contract – handles token exchange between Dogecoin blockchain and Dogechain.
How Can DOGE Holders Benefit from Dogechain?
To begin with, Uniswap and other EVM compatible DeFi applications can be integrated with Dogechain. Additionally, by leveraging Layer-2 solutions such as ZK Rollups and Optimistic Rollups, Dogechain will offer significant improvements over DOGE’s existing transactions per second (tps) performance.
With Dogechain, DOGE holders will be able to mint their own NFTs following the ERC721 standard.
60% of the supply of $DC is being airdropped to the community, with a large chunk being reserved for existing Doge holders, as well as Robinhood Doge holders (when Robinhood allows DOGE withdrawals).
The percentage of the supply allocated to existing DOGE holders will be airdropped soon.
Thanks to Dogechain, the Dogecoin community can now leverage DeFi and NFTs, adding even more utility to this unique cryptocurrency. Dogechain is extending DOGE’s possibilities like never before, transforming it from an extremely popular meme coin widely used as payment all over the world into a powerful DeFi asset that can help users generate yield and access blockchain-powered financial apps.
