What was as soon as only a joking paraphrase of one of many many meme-worthy strains impressed by a 2015 clip of Shia LaBeouf can now be learn as an evaluation of the sheer potential of NFTs: “Don’t let your memes be goals” — and we noticed it come to fruition when an NFT based mostly on Nyan Cat offered for $600,000.
And now it’s occurring once more because the Dogecoin continues to develop as a platform for decentralized finance, blockchain gaming, and naturally, NFTs. On the heart of the additional legitimization of the OG meme coin is Dogechain — which was lately introduced as an important layer-2 community for the meme coin.
Okay, what is dogecoin?
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency — like Bitcoin or Ethereum — initially developed as a joke by software program engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. It’s additionally a snapshot into the web tradition of the early 2010s, as Dogecoin had initially launched in December of 2013. The coin’s title stemmed from the now-classic Doge meme — a picture of surprised-looking Shiba Inu superimposed with the canine’s supposed inside monologue in Comedian Sans.
Nonetheless, regardless of the coin’s foolish presentation and branding, severe work went into getting the meme coin up and operating. The coin launched when Bitcoin was nonetheless one of many few massive gamers in cryptocurrency, Markus and Palmer sought to make the underlying blockchain powering it extra environment friendly. They succeeded, with the Dogecoin blockchain touting faster block times and transaction speeds than Bitcoin’s.
Now, when you’re questioning the place you should purchase Dogecoin for your self, the forex is at present obtainable on most cryptocurrency exchanges. As of writing, Binance and Coinbase, amongst others, provide customers the flexibility to commerce in fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies for Dogecoin. Nonetheless, when you’re trying to take action as an funding, simply ensure to brace your self for a rogue Elon Musk tweet (or assertion) down the road. On prime of that, situations like Dogecoin’s Reddit-driven 800 percent surge in January 2021 add to the coin’s potential volatility as an funding.
A short abstract of layer-2 networks
Concerning blockchains, layer-2 refers to a community constructed on prime of an current blockchain designed to allow extra environment friendly operation at a bigger scale. Inside Web3 improvement circles, making a layer-2 community is among the most frequently used options to counteract difficulties confronted by every blockchain to deal with all of the transactions it verifies on each day. Ethereum — the de-facto blockchain used for minting NFTs — touts layer-2 options like Polygon.
Other than addressing scalability considerations for every blockchain, by taking on a few of a blockchain’s transaction throughput, layer-2 options additionally allow the event of decentralized functions (dApps) that don’t intrude with a blockchain’s core performance. That makes layer-2 networks well-liked hosts for all kinds of dApps, starting from crypto wallets, to decentralized finance (DeFi), to play-to-earn (P2E) video games, and naturally, NFTs.
What layer 2 for Dogecoin means
So what does this imply for Dogecoin? By means of its new layer-2 community Dogechain, all kinds of utilities at the moment are opened up for Dogecoin holders. It might additionally boast an enchancment in effectivity in comparison with Dogecoin, because of its proof-of-stake authentication mechanisms. In keeping with its website, “[with] Dogechain, Dogecoin holders can do greater than merely hodl and watch for Dogecoin to moon!” Moreover, the layer-2 community will reportedly allow Dogecoin holders to make use of the cryptocurrency as a solution to pay for fuel charges.
Nonetheless, Dogechain differs from different layer-2 networks in that it doesn’t function straight on prime of the prevailing Dogecoin blockchain. As a substitute, Dogechain capabilities as a bridge between Dogecoin and its customized Polygon-based community. As such, dApps constructed on Dogechain gained’t be utilizing precise Dogecoin, as an alternative counting on Wrapped Dogecoin — a proprietary token that pegs its worth on precise Dogecoin.
Notably, Dogechain is way from the primary layer-2 community to be established on prime of the Dogecoin blockchain. As early as 2014 — a yr after Dogecoin first got here into being — a Dogecoin layer centered on creativity and social good launched referred to as Dogeparty. Similar to Bitcoin’s CounterParty layer-2 the place early NFTs like Uncommon Pepes and Spells of Genesis had been minted, DogeParty is house to the earliest NFTs on Doge, and it has enabled numerous fundraising alternatives for Dogecoin holders, each massive and small.
A troubled Dogechain launch
As reported on Decrypt, Dogecoin surged 11 percent in value final August. A lot of the renewed curiosity in Dogecoin happened from the launch of Dogechain. Sadly, the initiative turned out to haven’t any direct connection to the unique Dogecoin staff, in keeping with a tweet co-signed by the Dogecoin Basis’s official Twitter account.
Moreover, an independent investigation by Web3 sleuth ZachXBT uncovered proof of an enormous Dogecoin dump carried out by one among Dogechain’s builders. Since information relating to Dogechain’s launch first began circulating in Web3 circles, Dogecoin’s worth has dropped, reaching a 30-day low, in keeping with CoinGecko. That hasn’t gotten in the best way of Dogechain’s recognition, nonetheless. In a September 2 tweet, the Dogechain Twitter account reported that it crossed 15 million transactions.
So the place does the unique meme challenge finish and this new Web3-ready initiative start? It’s exhausting to say. Regardless of how the unique Dogecoin builders distanced themselves from this new challenge, the promise of all the most recent utilities it stands to allow for Dogecoin “hodlers” is tough to disclaim. We’ll have to attend and see how the story of Dogechain unfolds — and if it continues the spirit of the meme coin that began all of it practically one decade in the past.