If you are practically active on Twitter, then you might have heard about Dogecoin and its ecstatic boom within the crypto market in the early 2020s. While it was called the meme coin during its debut, the practical approach that it has is no joke. As for the Dogechain, it is a completely different thing than the Dogecoin token, but they do share an affiliation with each other.
Dogecoin is More Than a Meme Token
On another note, the famous influencer and SpaceX owner Elon Musk also took a grave interest in the meme token. He also tried his best to hike up the price of the token on multiple accounts, but it couldn’t go through the way he wanted to.
Following is a brief guide explaining various attributes of Dogecoin, such as its launch, the vision behind it, present market cap, and such. Take a look at the following data to know more about the token.
Introduction to Dogechain
The first thing that needs to be understood about the Dogechain is the fact that it must not be confused with the Dogecoin token. As both are completely different things both in practice and in theory. Dogechain works as a layer 2 blockchain solution for the Doge token, and it is not sanctioned in an official capacity.
It works as an EVM or an Ether virtual machine ecosystem with the core goal of making the Dogecoin ecosystem compatible with decentralized blockchain systems out there. Dogechain is present on the polygon network. This way Dogecoin users have access to a plethora of decentralized finance options without having to leave the Dogecoin ecosystem to do so.
How Does Dogechain Work?
Dogechain provides Dogecoin users with tons of functionality. From anywhere to accessing blockchain-oriented games to buying NFT tokens online and from swapping crypto tokens with fiat alternatives to accessing a wide array of decentralized apps out there, this chain can do all of that and more.
Users want to have some kind of bridge to affiliate themselves with the rest of the decentralized community out there. The very reason is that Dogecoin, in particular, has only limited functionality as it is only used as a payment accreditor and for the sake of making purchases.
The developers of the Dogechain have deemed it fit that the chain would use Dogecoin for payment purposes. Another reason for doing so is to boost the primary functionality of Dogecoin and to extend its use case across the board.
Major Reasons Behind the Launch of Dogecoin
Although the success of Dogecoin as a crypto token has been somewhat of a question mark, it has still managed to amass a loyal customer base which does count as a type of success. Maybe not the most fluid but still success nonetheless. This makes one scratch their head trying to understand the initial need for the Dogechain.
Even if it was to further the cause and functionality of Dogecoin, a very popular crypto token but why was it needed to begin with? In one word? ‘Limitations’ that Dogecoin has and therefore require a third-party solution such as Dogechain to overcome these. That is why it is paramount to discuss these limitations first before getting down to other areas of the issue.
Limitations of Dogecoin
The most exuberant limitation that Dogecoin has is its use case. It is used for the sake of making online payments for the purchases that are done on the internet by the users. And so are the other crypto tokens out there which don’t provide Dogecoin with any particular edge over other many cryptocurrencies that are doing the same thing.
Another limitation is the negligence of the Dogecoin development team in catching up with the most recent developments made within the DeFi space. It is almost as if they don’t care about it or any other thing, maybe because of the fact that it was earlier meant as a joke, and this is how the developers are treating Dogecoin even still.
Dogechain Works as a Bridge Between Dogecoin and DeFi Space
Dogechain is an EVM-based solution that is being run on the polygon blockchain and is not affiliated with Dogecoin in an official capacity. The initial reason behind the development of the Dogechain was for it to work as a bridge between Dogecoin and the rest of the DeFi space.
This way, whatever new advancements or regulations were being commenced in the DeFi space would automatically be made available on the Dogecoin platform.
Furthermore, Dogecoin users would be able to transfer their tokens onto the Dogechain and then use these for the sake of buying NFT tokens, making trades in the metaverse, or availing other avenues of the DeFi space.
Many crypto enthusiasts believe that the Dogechain is a layer 2 network, but it is not and it is also not affiliated with the Dogecoin token in any shape or form.
Conversion of Dogecoin Tokens into Wrapped Dogecoin Tokens
The initial white paper that was published by the Dogechain developers made it crystal clear that the purpose behind the development of the Dogechain was to increase the overall utility of the Dogecoin token. Users would be able to become participants in the DeFi projects being commenced out there.
Furthermore, they will be able to wrap their dedicated DOGE tokens into the Dogecoin smart contracts so that they can get their hands on the wrapped Dogecoin or the proof of stake tokens as well.
Most of the time, these tokens would stay on the Dogechain for the users to interact with these whenever they want to, but if needed, then these wrapped tokens can be converted back into the normal Dogecoin tokens as well and shifted back to the official wallet of the user. Following are some of the use cases of the wrapped Doge POS tokens;
Users would be able to buy, sell or mint the NFT tokens, pay gas prices related to the NFT transactions, or even exchange their NFTs with other users out there.
Engage with and take part in various GameFi platforms out there, earn rewards, make transactions, and interact with other users out there on the similar platforms
Swap tokens speculate the price movement of their favorite crypto entities or for the sake of joining a particular crypto exchange out there.
Get your hands on all kinds of investment opportunities out there, many of which are staking, lending, borrowing, and even liquidity mining.
Buy specific NFTs or invest in NFT-oriented projects that are related to the Dogecoin token. Funding the DeFi communities out there or engaging with a specific DAO of your choice
Other than that, there is the security-oriented element that will tempt you to give Dogechain a fair try. Did you know that Dogechain offers a far superior and tantalizing security solution than Dogecoin’s standard proof of stake Scrypt mining platform?
Another drawback that is present within the mining algorithm of Dogecoin is that it can’t be scaled for mass usage the way Dogechain or other crypto entities out there can be.
Relation Between Dogecoin and Dogechain
The present formulation of the Dogecoin token that is powering its whole infrastructure is believed to consume more than 6.54 TWh which is near to the power needs of a small country. In other words, Dogecoin is leaving a heavier carbon footprint behind, and the power input is only going to increase in the future as the use case of the token continues to rise to new heights.
Dogechain, on the other hand, proposes a decent plan to tackle this issue by offering a lesser power-intensive alternative.
Dogechain offers a more reliable and faster consensus mechanism than Dogecoin, which makes it not only safe but also reliable as a way of interacting with an already extensive DeFi space out there. Millions of transactions regarding the Dogecoin token can be conducted on the Dogechain platform, while Dogecoin’s own platform is extremely weak to support this kind of transaction throughput.
On top of everything else, the Dogechain does have smart contract functionality, which really makes it something developers can look towards as a direct competition to the Ether blockchain.
Dogechain works as the principle and standalone EVM-oriented blockchain that does rely on the Polygon edge framework that is an extension of the polygon platform.
The most significant aspect of this framework is that it has been fine-tuned for the development of Ethereum-compatible blockchain solutions that can work both standalone and in unification with other such compatible systems.
Dogechain, as being developed on the polygon Edge framework, has certain characteristics that are identical to the framework that it was developed on. For instance, it is compatible with the EVM protocols. This allows the developers to be able to develop tokens over the platform using the ERC-20 protocol.
The PoS mechanism is also another boost that Dogechain enjoys as it happens to be more secure, faster, and much more scalable and eco-friendly as compared to the proof of work consensus protocol that has been used by the developers of the Dogecoin.
But above everything else, the framework allow the users to get their hands on the smart contracts making them not only access the vast feature set of the DeFi space but also pay for the gas fee whilst using the Ether ecosystem with their own Dogecoin tokens.
Dogechain and EVM
Dogechain happens to work really well with EVM technology, and it does allow developers to not only develop but also deploy new software and updates, such as patchwork and security details, in a much faster and scalable fashion.
This is essentially a pretty decent help that the developers get their hands on as they don’t need to develop everything from scratch and look down on paying hefty fees for the sake of using third-party software systems.
With the help of the EVM technology and the polygon edge framework Dogechain is able to provide Dogecoin users with a level of functionality and scalability, which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
The whole thing is much faster, more efficient, and above all, scalable, which means that the user has full autonomy when it comes to either upgrading or downgrading their interaction with the vast DeFi space out there. And especially when they need that extra throughput, they know that the Dogechain will certainly not leave them hanging high and dry.
Another remarkable aspect of the Dogechain is how the chain was developed. First of all, even though the Dogechain is built using the Polygon Edge Framework but it still doesn’t bring into use the security metrics of the framework itself. It has its own dedicated third-party validators and a full-on cluster for the purpose of security.
It might come out as a shock to many developers out there, but other core features of the polygon edge framework, such as the checkpoint mechanism and the mainchain contract feature, have also been disabled by default.
This is because the eventual purpose of the Dogechain is to become and act as a bridge for the Dogecoin protocol, it just doesn’t have any use case for these features, and that is why these have been disabled.
Dogechain and Cross-Chain Protocol
Another very significant element that needs to be discussed about the Dogechain is its interaction with the cross-chain protocol, but more importantly, why it is significant for the working of Dogechain.
It is an extremely important component because it allows for the linking of Dogecoin’s original blockchain network to be successfully linked by the Dogechain network.
You can use this protocol for the sake of converting your Dogecoin tokens into wrapped Dogecoin tokens. But in order for that to happen, you need to fulfill the 1:1 ratio, or otherwise, the transaction won’t go through.
In simpler terms, it means that whenever you provide the protocol with an original Dogecoin token, the protocol is going to provide you with a wrapped Dogecoin, and whenever you allow the protocol to destroy a wrapped Dogecoin, you can have your original Dogecoin back.
Following features of the cross-chain protocols will allow you to understand its functionality a bit better;
With the help of the bridge system, you can have safe and feasible access to the Dogecoin ecosystem.
For the sake of initiating or completing any transaction, a threshold signature scheme has been put into place. The cross-chain protocol allows for the development of trustless keys that can be used to complete the transactions in a distinctively safer and securer fashion.
All the sharing pertaining to the private key is being managed actively by the community and the third-party providers, which tackles a single point of failure among many other such anomalies allowing you to navigate through the blockchain in a much neater and safer fashion.
All the parties or organizations who are utilizing the cross-chain protocol do have the liberty to use the governance mechanism provided to them for the sake of initiating voting for certain matters.
As stated multiple times before Dogechain is not affiliated with Dogecoin in any shape or form as it is an independent project with the sole purpose of increasing the capabilities and functionalities of Dogecoin.
It does so by enhancing the use case of the Dogecoin platform and also by providing it with finer utility and its wider customer base to an intensive array of possibilities in the DeFi space.
Since the whole concept is a bit strange and ambiguous for people to wrap around their minds, the founders of the Dogecoin project had to come forward to explain the whole thing to the public.
In many of their recent tweets, the founders of the Dogecoin project, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer explained that Dogechain, in no shape or form, is a project of Dogecoin and is a completely independent entity. However, the working of Dogechain is closely tied with Dogecoin and enhances the capabilities of Dogecoin itself.
Conclusion
With that being said, both are completely separate entities but are reliant on each other as well. And the impact of Dogechain on the Dogecoin network also can’t be avoided or misinterpreted in any shape or form as it is most definitely going to stick around with Dogecoin in the future and will be referred to as a game changer for the meme coin.
In the future, it is also expected that the Dogecoin developers would officially add the functionality of the Dogechain into the Dogecoin platform or would merge the two for good.