What is Dogecoin?
Dogecoin is a decentralized open-source cryptocurrency that features Shiba Inu, a dog, as the logo. Dogecoin was founded by Billy Markus, and his idea was to bring something fun into the blockchain ecosystem, something that a lot of people could relate to. His idea was to have a blockchain platform where people can have a sense of belonging, and have fun while they are at it.
Dogecoin has a number of unique features, and in some cases, it has even been considered better than Bitcoin. One of these is the fact that there is an infinite supply of coins on this platform. Dogecoin operates under the proof of work (PoW) algorithm. In this algorithm, users have to perform transactions and have them confirmed before they are listed in the public ledger.
Dogecoin has always been considered more of a joke, and most people barely take it seriously. However, it has an optimistic and loyal community that even with minimal updates from the development team for years, have stayed active, and used the platform to champion for causes in different parts of the world.
To obtain Dogecoin, you can get them from cryptocurrency exchanges that you trust. These exchanges operate in the same way that forex markets do, only that instead of trading in fiat currency, they trade in crypto coins. To trade in an exchange, you must register a trading account, and use your government issued details to verify your credentials.
Alternatively, in case you do not wish to go through the rigorous process of account registration and verification, you can purchase Dogecoin from individuals who already own them. The only problem is that it can take you a very long time before you find someone who is willing to buy or sell the number of coins that you want, and at the price you desire.
What is the problem that Dogecoin Solves?
There are common problems in blockchain technology that need to be addressed. When trying to exchange Bitcoin, for example, there is a risk that your coins might get stuck, because maybe you did not pay a sufficient fee. You have to go back to the drawing board, resubmit your payment and hope the transaction goes through. You will waste a lot of time doing this.
Other than wasting time, such transactions become expensive over time. Through Dogecoin, however, you are able to send your payments faster and for a fraction of what you would generally spend when using Bitcoin.
How does Dogecoin Solve the problem?
Blockchain technology has gained a lot of interest in recent times. Sadly, those who do not have the technical skills usually end up avoiding it altogether, for fear of being scammed in the process. There are platforms that are so technical, it becomes difficult to explain the process to people who lack the knowledge. This has priced a lot of people away from blockchain platforms.
Dogecoin, however, has managed to create a community of users who go beyond the technical and reach out to one another for simple things. This is a community of people who socialize in different things. There are gamers who send coins to one another to purchase in-game credits and resources.
A hacking attempt on Dogecoin saw users lose some 21 million Dogecoin, worth $12,000 on the eve of Christmas in 2014. However, the Dogecoin community would rally behind one another and raise $13,000 to pay back those who had lost their money in this hack. Dogecoin, therefore, has managed to create a sense of empathy in an industry that has barely ever known such.
Dogecoin shares the same mode of operation like Bitcoin and a lot of other cryptocurrencies. What this means is that when you are using Dogecoin, you will be transferring value by securing digital investments and assets through the PoW consensus model.
When you initiate a transaction on Dogecoin, this is encrypted and miners take it up. Nodes within the network confirm this transaction and follow the public keys to determine whether you have the coins needed for the purposed action. As long as there is no double spend, and you have all the coins needed, your transaction gets confirmed and added to the next block.
One of the main differences between Dogecoin and Bitcoin, for example, is the number of coins available. When Dogecoin was released, it was created with a finite supply of coins, capped at 100 billion coins. However, later on, it was updated to have an infinite supply.
In terms of speed, Dogecoin can complete more than 9 times the number of transactions that you would complete with Bitcoin in a 10-minute period. Dogecoin offers immense transaction abilities and this is one area where it outshines Bitcoin.
Bitcoin confirms a block every 10 minutes, while Dogecoin handles a block every minute. This is one of the reasons why transaction confirmation is faster on Dogecoin. As an investor, you can go about your business without worrying about waiting for your transactions to be confirmed, and the uncertainty that lies therein.
What makes Dogecoin better than the competitors?
Over the years, Dogecoin has been resilient even with the lack of updates from the development team. This resiliency has gained it a lot of interest and support, with so many people who were skeptical in the past changing their stand. There are several benefits that make this joke crypto stand out:
Anonymous transactions
With Dogecoin, you are guaranteed anonymity in all the transactions that you conduct online. Anonymity is something that most blockchain platforms struggle with, because they promise private and secure connections, yet they are still run in centralized networks. Dogecoin, on the other hand, is decentralized, and you can be guaranteed your information and data access is private and secure.
All the information and transactions that go on in Dogecoin are encrypted from the moment you join the network. Your transaction details and personal account details are encrypted such that even miners are unable to get this information.
Seizure
By staying anonymous, Dogecoin protects users from loss of their assets in the form of seizures. It is virtually impossible to link the identity of an individual to a transaction. Therefore, it is a good place for investing without the constant worry of third-party interference.
Value addition
Most blockchain projects are often ambitious in their targets, and in the long run, they fail to achieve this. Dogecoin has a very simple target, sending value. This kind of simplicity has made it easy for Dogecoin to improve progressively by focusing on the things that matter.
Tried and tested
Though not so many people talk about it, Dogecoin has actually been in the market for a very long time and survived different scenarios. Bearing this in mind, most of the features that run Dogecoin have been tried, tested and stood the test of time.
Positivity
Dogecoin enjoys an advantage that no other cryptocurrency has enjoyed, and at unprecedented levels. There has been no major update about this platform for years, yet the community of users still keeps growing. More often, platforms that do not get updates for the duration of time Dogecoin has stayed dormant end up losing out on the competition, and even become obsolete.
By design, Dogecoin was never meant to become a market leader. In fact, its value is supposed to remain low, so that it can be used for mundane things like giving tips online. It is this positivity in the Dogecoin community that makes it a promising platform. With updates expected in the coming months, it is a platform that will certainly grow from strength to strength.
How can Dogecoin be categorized?
Dogecoin is an altcoin. It is one of the most widely used coins on the market and has been adopted by lots of cryptocurrency exchanges. It is a peer-to-peer decentralized digital currency that allows users to send money online.
What’s Dogecoin’s vision on Security?
One of the reasons why a lot of people might be joining Dogecoin is the expectation of high rewards as the value of the native coins rises. This mentality has come from the story of Bitcoin, and how its value skyrocketed and early adopters made quite the killing.
Other than that, there are people who own coins so that they are able to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself in the market. But, what about security? Security should be the first thing you think about when investing in any blockchain platform. Losing coins on the Dogecoin platform is not the same as losing legacy currency coins.
When you lose your coins, they are still available in the Dogecoin network. You might perhaps struggle to gain them back, depending on how they were lost. Coins that are lost when they are sent to the wrong address have simply exchanged hands, but are still within the network.
In case your wallet has been damaged and you lose your coins, these coins are not lost, but they are still within the network. The only difference is that they are now dormant. These coins are still in your name, so they are not lost. To restore them, you need to obtain a good wallet.
There is also the risk of losing your private keys. This denies you access to your coins. These coins are not lost, as it happens in other blockchain platforms. Instead, they are also rendered dormant. When you regenerate your private keys, you can get back your coins.
Hacked accounts, on the other hand, might be a different challenge altogether. Coins that have been lost through hacking have changed hands, and are owned by someone else. They are still in circulation within the network, but you cannot reverse them.
The Dogecoin platform, in general, is secure. The face of the coin might look like a meme, but the team behind Dogecoin are serious about security. To safeguard your coins and any transaction that you conduct in this platform, the developers refined the Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm with AuxPoW. By default, all, if not most blockchain platforms have a 51% risk of attack. However, by switching to AuxPoW, Dogecoin mitigates this risk.
Examples of Dogecoin use cases/applications
Aside from the fact that Dogecoin is cryptocurrency and can be used to transfer value, this blockchain platform is also about having fun. Dogecoin has a robust community that offers support from time to time.
Over the years Dogecoin has been used to support charities and other good causes all over the world. Dogecoin has a very large following on social media, especially by those who fancy the meme behind the logo. There is an active group on Reddit that tip users in Dogecoin whenever they post quality content. This applies to articles or free art that is shared online. Such tips are automatically added to your Dogecoin wallet, and you can use them to trade in services from other users, hold as a form of investment, or tip other users for something that appeals to you.
Dogecoin is also used as a form of payment for goods and services. From business advisory services, web developers, writers, marketing and social media gurus, you can be paid for any service you deliver in Dogecoin. This works in the same way you would be paid in fiat currency. In fact, there are so many online carts that have since incorporated DOGE, the native Dogecoin token as a form of payment just like the Euro and US Dollar. If you share the public address for your wallet, you can also be paid directly.
The Dogecoin charities have gone as far as sponsoring a NASCAR driver in 2014, who raced in a Dogecoin themed car. Other than that, in the same year, the Dogecoin community raised around $30,000 that was used to dig and build wells for clean water in Tana Valley, in Kenya. This same community crowdfunded $50,000 that would send a Bobsled team from Jamaica to the Sochi Winter Olympics.
There is also the option of purchasing Dogecoin for speculative purposes as you would any other fiat currency in forex trading. You must however, understand that prices can be very volatile, and you might have to wait a while before you earn significant returns.
Resources
https://coincheckup.com/coins/Dogecoin
http://foundation.dogecoin.com/
http://foundation.dogecoin.com/news/
https://medium.com/@dogecoin
https://www.reddit.com/r/dogecoin/comments/24n01l/dogecoin_faq_wat_do_much_confuze/