What is Dogecoin?
This cryptocurrency may be a personal favorite of many people. This entertainingly named DogeCoin features the image of a Shiba Inu breed dog as its logo, which gave it popularity online. The network has a few very unique features and in some cases is considered better than the goliath of the crypto sphere – Bitcoin. DogeCoin has no maximum supply limit and it uses the Proof of Work consensus mechanism. The original idea of this project was to create a way to incentivize or tip content creators for their creations.
Advantages
One of the main advantages of the DogeCoin network is that it is significantly faster than other altcoin blockchains. This is done with the lower time between blocks of 60 seconds with an automatic difficulty adjustment every 4 hours. Other notable pros are:
- Lower transaction fees making it suitable for use on a daily basis
- A large growing community because of its popularity of being an online tipping currency for content creators from different spheres like gaming or social media
Disadvantages
Of course, there are also some deficiencies with the network. What I consider to be the main one is that the security is of a lower level when compared to the other altcoins. Here are some more cons that you should take into consideration:
- It is not really profitable to mine
- It is a lower value coin and relatively less stable than the others on the market
History and Evolution
The creation of the DogeCoin project was a result of a joke made by Jackson Palmer in 2013 and then was contacted by programmer Billy Markus with the proposition to make it a reality. DogeCoin was designed to be a much more approachable and easier to use cryptocurrency that could give what users put off of the complexity of Bitcoin could not find anywhere else. It even was named after a popular internet meme.
The founders of the project as I mentioned are Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer and the new cryptocurrency was launched on the 6th December later that year and it was possible to mine it. The project was so famous, that even Elon Musk reached out to the team for help in fighting the rise of Twitter Scambots. Currently, the team is focused on releasing updates for the network with client version 1.14 and they have already started working even on the next version, which will be 1.16.
Dogecoin’s Future
To be honest, the inception of the coin was meant to be humorous and there were no real future plans for development or development to bring something unique and groundbreaking to the crypto sphere. Even though there is no official roadmap or new features being developed, this coin still remains one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market.
Dogecoin Blockchain
The DogeCoin blockchain is a decentralized peer to peer network that is using the Proof of Work consensus mechanism and the Scrypt hashing algorithm. The last block reward halving happened in February 2018, which left the reward at 10 000 DOGE coins and will remain permanent forever. The network boasts a time between blocks of 60 seconds ad a block size of 10.83Kb. The automatic difficulty adjustment happens every 240 blocks or 4 hours.
Dogecoin Nodes
In the DogeCoin network, there are two types of nodes – light and full nodes. Full nodes are the ones that have full validation privileges for transactions and blocks. They require the full blockchain transaction history in order to operate and also accept and validate transactions that are broadcasted from other full nodes. The full nodes also provide services to the lightweight nodes and if there are not enough of them active on the network other clients won’t be able to function.
Lightweight nodes, on the other hand, don’t need the full blockchain in order to work as they just need the block headers in order to confirm the transaction authenticity. They are compiled of most active devices on the network and are quite easy to run and maintain. Light nodes use the method called Simplified payment verification (SPV) to verify transactions.
How to Get Dogecoin
If you would like to get a hold of some DOGE coins you have two options open to you. You can either mine the coins with mining hardware or you can go to an exchange and buy them with either fiat currency or other crypto coins.
Where to Buy Dogecoin
I would like to talk about one of your options for getting some DogeCoin cryptocurrency, which is buying it from exchanges. There are some exchanges that offer DogeCoin in a pair with real-life fiat money like Bcex. Alternatively, you can go on exchanges like Gate, HitBTC, Bittrex etc and buy some of the more popular crypto coins like Tether or Bitcoin that can be traded in a pair with DOGE.
| Exchange | Cryptocurrencies | Fiat Money | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gate.io
|
Bitcoin, Tether | – | Trade now |
|
zb.com
|
Bitcoin, Tether | – | Trade now |
|
BCEX
|
Bitcoin, CK USD | – | Trade now |
How to Mine Dogecoin
The other option that you have for getting some DOGE cryptocurrency is by mining. Usually, there are two options when it comes to hardware choice for mining, which are GPU miners and ASICs. Unfortunately, due to the unmatchable efficiency of the ASIC miners, the GPU option is not efficient to the point that it is not worth it. Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) machines are specially designed for mining and have taken the crypto mining world by storm. If you would like to mine DOGE, be efficient and to be profitable you will need to buy an ASIC. You can find what I consider the best choices with their characteristics below.
| Мining Hardware | Hash Rate | Power | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innosilicon A6 LTCMaster | 1.23Gh/s | 1500W | $ 3000 | buy now |
| Innosilicon A4+ LTCMaster | 620Mh/s | 750W | $ 1500 | buy now |
| Bitmain Antminer L3++ (580Mh) | 580Mh/s | 940W | $ 160 | buy now |
Wallets for Dogecoin
In any case, if you would like to own DOGE coins, you will need a wallet to have access and management of your funds. Your best bet will be the official core wallet that is supported and backed by the development team. It is compatible with almost all operating systems like Windows, MacOS, Android, OS X, Blackberry, Source, and even Browsers. Dogecoin Core wallet is pretty easy to use and can act as a full node if that is what you would like to do, but please be advised that it would require a large chunk of free hard drive space. To be specific, the synchronization might take up to 20 hours and about 20GB of space.
For your convenience, I would like to give you the Core Wallet Installation Guide from where you can select your OS and see what you need to do to set it up.
Alternative Wallets
If the core wallet is not for you, there are a few alternative wallets that you can choose from. These alt wallets are usually developed by entities that are in that line of work or have experience with that type of software. They can offer a wide range of different features like multiple cryptocurrency support or even a built-in exchange. There are different wallets by type like desktop wallets, mobile wallets, hardware wallets etc. You can pick the type that will suit your style the best.
Desktop Wallets
Mobile Wallets
Online Wallets
Dogecoin Network Security
Unfortunately, there were some security breaches in DogeCoin’s past. The Dogewallet was hacked by a malicious party and 21 million DOGE coins were stolen. However, the community made a fundraiser for the people that were affected by the attack and managed to raise the full amount of stolen coins.
News and Useful Links
If you would like to be a part of the DogeCoin community and always be up to date with news or changes, you can start by regularly visiting their official website. Alternatively, you can also join the subreddit and follow them on their social media accounts.