What is Dogechain? Exploring the Not So Official Layer 2 Blockchain for Dogecoin

Following Dogecoin’s release in 2014, many crypto enthusiasts were shocked to see the meme coin rise quickly to success. What seemed like fun, with community members sharing whimsical dog memes referencing the logo of Dogecoin, translated to massive success for the meme coin. Several global influencers and public figures like Snoop Dogg and Elon Musk publicly declared their faith and support for the coin. Dogecoin has remained relevant to this day, occupying the spot of the premier meme coin and sitting among the top 10 cryptocurrencies.

However, despite its user base and growing market cap, Dogecoin is yet to reach its full potential. By itself, Dogecoin exists merely as a means of payment. The new era of blockchain, including crypto games, NFTs, and the DeFi movement, remains untapped by Dogecoin users. A solution to Dogecoin’s utility limitations has been launched in the form of Dogechain, a community-driven layer 2 blockchain.

What Is Dogechain?

Launched on August 1st, 2022, Dogechain is an EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) compatible layer 2 blockchain that expands the use case utility for Dogecoin. Built by Dogecoin holders for Dogecoin holders, Dogechain is an entirely community-driven project that is not officially connected to Dogecoin or the creators of Dogecoin.

Source: Twitter (@jwiechers)

Dogechain does more than bridge the gap; it brings scalability, security, and new technology to Dogecoin. Although the project was proposed as a layer 2 solution for Dogecoin, it is not built on the Dogecoin blockchain. It exists as a separate blockchain built using the Polygon Edge framework. With Dogechain, Dogecoin users can interact with smart contracts and dApps, engage in price speculation, and even join crypto gaming.

Why Was Dogechain Launched?

Despite its position among the top ten cryptocurrencies, the technology backing Dogecoin is incredibly traditional. Dogecoin was built using the Proof-of-Work(PoW) consensus mechanism, a widely used consensus algorithm that’s extremely energy intensive. To operate, Dogecoin requires up to 6.54 TWh, around the same energy used to power a small country. In this new era of blockchain, with new scalability solutions, NFTs, and DeFi applications, Dogecoin doesn’t seem to have a place. As a result, Dogecoin needed a technology overhaul.

According to the community white paper, Dogechain was built mainly to support Dogecoin by expanding its use cases and bringing other features, such as scalability and security. With Dogechain, Dogecoin users will be exposed to use cases such as:

• NFT minting;
• crypto gaming;
• DeFi protocols and token swapping;
• Advanced investing opportunities like liquidity mining and staking
• DAOs and other DeFi communities.

Further, the tokens that are available on the Dogechain network are proof of stake tokens that incorporate additional technology to guarantee speed and security for its users.

How Does Dogechain Work?

Dogechain is separate from Dogecoin and is built with the Polygon Edge framework, a software by Polygon tailored to assist developers in building scalable blockchains. Dogechain is based on the Polygon software and retains some of its properties, particularly EVM compatibility.

Dogechain functions as a bridge, connecting Dogecoin users to all the innovations in the new era of blockchain. Climbing this bridge means users have to rely on Wrapped Dogechain ($wDOGE), a proprietary token pegged to Dogecoin’s value at a 1:1 rate. Users must lock their $DOGE into the Dogechain protocol to get wrapped DOGE in return. Each time a user locks $DOGE into the protocol, the smart contract mints $wDOGE in return. The $wDOGE is an ERC-20 token that can be used for DeFi products, NFTs, and crypto gaming. In return, when users are ready to withdraw their DOGE, all they need to do is destroy the $wDOGE.

As an ERC-20 token, $wDOGE is compatible with Ethereum wallets like Metamask. Finally, when utilizing smart contracts on the Dogechain protocol, Dogecoin holders can use their DOGE to pay for gas.

Features of Dogechain

The Dogechain network is made up of a few core principles that are explored as follows:

IBFT PoS Consensus Mechanism

The IBFT consensus mechanism overcomes the shortcomings of PoW and improves upon the technology behind the PoS. The PoS consensus mechanism ditches traditional mining for a validation system chaired by nodes with a higher number of tokens staked. The algorithm also features slashing scenarios that scourge centralization and facilitate security and transparency within the blockchain.

EVM Compatibility

At the core of the Dogechain project is EVM compatibility. Since Dogechain is built using Ethereum’s side chain, Polygon’s software, it is compatible with apps and games deployed on the Ethereum network. Further, due to this feature, developers can build more solutions on the Dogechain network. The Dogechain community also has plans to execute its own smart contracts, building and adding to the DeFi movement.

Cross-chain Compatibility

Perhaps the most defining feature of the Dogechain project is cross-chain compatibility. This feature allows users to deposit native $DOGE and get $wDOGE in exchange at a 1:1 rate to be used to buy NFTs or for other use cases. Similarly, if a user wants their DOGE back, they can simply burn a $wDOGE token and withdraw their $DOGE from the Dogechain protocol.

Decentralized Governance

Because the Dogechain project is entirely community drive, the framework supports decentralization. Holders of the $DC token can vote on proposed projects, propose new ones, and influence decisions surrounding the Dogechain protocol.

Dogechain’s Impact on Dogecoin

Since Dogechain was first announced, there have been lots of news and speculations around the connection between the layer 2 solution and Dogecoin. Between July 26, a week before Dogechain’s launch, and August 17, two weeks after the launch, the price of $DOGE rose by more than 40%.

While the founders of Dogecoin have distanced themselves from the new protocol, we cannot dismiss the chances of Dogechain affecting the Dogecoin token and its price.

In the two months following the Dogechain launch, the protocol boasts over 200 thousand wallets and more than 50 million transactions on the blockchain. This suggests that many Dogecoin users are already subscribing to the Dogechain business model and using its services.

Ultimately, Dogechain was created with one major goal, to complement Dogecoin and provide opportunities for its users to put their DOGE to work. In the long run, this support is bound to produce an effect, however large or small, on the perception of Dogecoin in the crypto community.

Dogechain Use Cases

The creators of Dogechain expressed that the purpose of creating the project was to link and expose Dogecoin holders to more use cases. These use cases include:

DeFi

Dogechain, an EVM-compatible blockchain, can be integrated into DeFi protocols like Uniswap and SushiSwap. The project’s two tokens, $wDOGE, and $DC are compatible with DeFi projects and so can be locked into liquidity pools to yield rewards. They can also be used on DeFi lending platforms, thereby extending a user’s use case for their original DOGE.

GameFi

Crypto gaming is increasingly becoming a staple in the crypto space. With Dogechain. Developers can build new crypto games using the project’s provided smart contract architecture. Users can also utilize their $wDOGE and $DC tokens to participate in the crypto games and meta verse projects.

NFTs

Using the ERC-721 protocol, an advanced version of ERC-20, Dogechain users can create and publish their own non-fungible tokens on the blockchain. This new standard is accepted across marketplaces, allowing Dogechain NFT creators and owners to launch their NFTs into the existing NFT space.

Dogechain Governance Token ($DC)

In addition to the proprietary token $wDOGE, Dogechain has an official native token. Launched on August 24th, 2022, $DC is the native token for the Dogechain protocol. Users may use it to fuel smart contracts, dApps, or transactions on the protocol. Dogechain allows its users to pay gas fees with either of its tokens; $wDOGE or $DC.

The initial supply for Dogechain’s governance token $DC was 1 trillion, constituting 3% of the total supply. Its initial supply was airdropped to early users. A fraction of this supply, 15%, will be released at once, while the rest will be released over 12 months following the launch. All users who owned $wDOGE after January 8th and before August 23rd are qualified to claim the airdrop.

The DC token is available on cryptocurrency exchanges like Gate.io.

Dogechain Governance Model

Governance within the Dogechain community happens via a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The Dogechain project is entirely community-driven; however, the method of governance is based on something called the VE model.

This VE model is a vesting and yield system that requires users who wish to participate in the governance of Dogechain to follow some rules. To possess voting power in the protocol, users must lock up their $DC native token for a total of 4 years in exchange for four times the value of their stake in $veDC as a reward. The $veDC is a non-transferable and non-tradable token. It can be considered a point system representing a user’s vesting duration. One $veDC token is entitled to one vote during governance proposals. The token is used on the governance portal to create new proposals and to vote on active proposals.

In addition, the $veDC token entitles holders to extra airdrops of $DC and random prizes and lottery rewards.

How to Interact With Dogechain?

It has been established that Dogechain brings loads of benefits to Dogecoin users. But how can you make use of it? The most important thing you need to interact with Dogechain is an Ethereum wallet and DOGE.

Currently, the only Ethereum wallets that support the Dogechain network are Metamask and Clover. Once you have either of these wallets and some DOGE, follow these steps to interact with Dogechain and put your DOGE to use.

Visit the Dogechain website and click on Cross chain bridge, amongst the options in the dropdown, select “Bridge.”

On the Dogechain bridge website, select “Connect Wallet” in the screen’s top right corner or center.

Select your preferred wallet and follow the remaining prompts.

Now that you have connected your wallet to the Dogechain network, the next step is to bridge your DOGE tokens to Dogechain.

1. To do this, return to the Dogechain Bridge website and select a route for your transaction.

2. The selected route should be Dogecoin to Dogechain.

3. Click “Confirm” to access the transfer address, and send your preferred DOGE amount to the wallet address.

After 6 block confirmations, the exact value of your bridged DOGE tokens will be deposited into your wallet in $wDOGE. You can then use the wDOGE to access any smart contracts and dApps on Ethereum.

Is Dogechain Safe?

Safety within Dogechain is guaranteed by a slashing methodology that resides within the protocol. The slashing method used by Dogechain resembles that of the Binance Smart chain and is used to defend the protocol’s governance procedures from malicious actors.

Dogecoin’s slashing method is executed via disciplinary evidence in cases where validators exhibit any of two slashing behaviors. A validator will be punished with a slash if they are absent from validating blocks for over 24 hours and if they mishandle signatures when adding blocks to the chain.

Conclusion

Having considered all this, it is certain that Dogechain represents a new era for Dogecoin and its users; a widened scope of use cases. With the help of Dogechain, Dogecoin has multiple uses and is not restrained to payment only. Looking forward, it can be assumed that Dogechain will do more than support DOGE and the DOGE community. It may attempt to incorporate more features that facilitate independent growth and a strong ecosystem that improves the value of its native token, DC.