Blockchain tech is progressing rapidly. We have seen an incredible range of innovations develop in the past couple of years, mostly through DeFi and NFTs. New, scalable blockchains are gaining traction, allowing for negligible gas fees and a greener, more sustainable, decentralized future.

Moreover, these innovative blockchains like Cosmos and Polygon amplify the DeFi space by providing passive yields through staking and liquidity mining. They also offer smart contract capability, allowing users to mint NFTs at low cost and near-zero carbon emissions.

Meanwhile, OG networks that have a limited array of use cases are struggling to stay relevant. For example, cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Dogecoin were initially created to provide a fast payment network, and they succeeded. Although general-purpose smart-contract platforms evolved, these networks failed to introduce new and innovative opportunities.

That’s where Dogechain comes in — to undertake the major task of setting things straight for Dogecoin. To this end, this new platform will enable DeFi and smart contract capabilities for the world’s favorite meme coin. This article will first analyze the shortcomings of payment-focused blockchains like Dogecoin. Then, I will explore the benefits that Dogechain brings to DOGE and how it can turn an OG, proof-of-work currency into a full-fledged DeFi powerhouse.

Will Payment Coins Slowly Disappear?

The current crypto market can be quite difficult to grasp. That’s understandable, with more than 18,000 tokens and coins scattered over hundreds of blockchains. To make my point, I will simplify this ecosystem into two distinct categories:

• Pre-smart contract cryptocurrencies, or 1st gen cryptos, with a primary goal to serve as means for exchanging value over the internet. These include popular coins like Bitcoin, Monero, Dogecoin, and Litecoin.
• Smart contract-capable blockchain platforms that allow the deployment of dApps, creation of proprietary tokens, or the internet of blockchains.

1st gen cryptos have a unique goal — to become a new form of money, which is at the same time secure, decentralized, and scalable. While this is a highly commendable feature, they still have very limited utility.

Smart-contract capable blockchains allow us to have programmable money and create the advanced financial instruments that form the DeFi ecosystem. Thanks to these capabilities, users can stake coins, provide liquidity, utilize lending platforms, trade on decentralized exchanges, and participate in a growing number of other activities. This versatility of use cases is why these platforms have already overtaken the market.

Sure, you can lock your Dogecoin and BTC on centralized platforms like Celsius for decent returns, but this implies that you are relinquishing your right of ownership. And as a crypto enthusiast, I’ve never been very fond of this method of making passive income.

That’s why payment-centered cryptos like LTC, DOGE, and BTC are lagging in utility. While this doesn’t seem to bother Bitcoin, it’s having pretty heavy repercussions for other OG blockchains.

Tokens are often faster, greener, and more cost-effective regarding transaction fees. For this reason, many of these 1st gen blockchains are slowly disappearing from the top 50 by market cap.

Dogecoin’s Lackluster Fundamentals

The lack of fundamentals specifically emphasizes this conundrum for DOGE. Dogecoin functions on an increasingly inefficient proof-of-work consensus mechanism and suffers from the lack of utility we previously mentioned endemic to 1st gen blockchains. All in all, Dogecoin performs its function as a currency rather well. But as the cryptocurrency ecosystem has evolved around it, many holders are left wishing they could do more with their favorite coin. It has, after all, become one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world.

Even though Elon Musk and Robinhood are pushing for higher adoption of DOGE, the fact remains that this crypto runs on an archaic architecture. The original Dogecoin remains on a Proof-of-Work protocol, while others are considering the newer and more efficient Proof-of-Stake consensus model.

What’s more, Dogecoin is notorious for struggling in bear markets. It holds to its meme status, which means that prices skyrocket and then fall sharply into an accumulation phase. It’s during these bear markets that DOGE underperforms severely and brings very little value to long-term holders.

Enter the Dogechain

But what if I told you that all of this is about to get a lot more interesting? Until now, all you could do with your DOGE other than to buy some and pray that its price would pump was participate in risky perpetual contracts or the centralized staking platforms we previously mentioned. Dogechain’s goal is to change this.

Dogechain, the first of its kind, is a fresh, new Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible layer 1 blockchain forked from Polygon. It will allow users to wrap their DOGE into a smart contract and enter a brand new world of DeFi capabilities for the original meme coin.

Dogechain Empowers DOGE With Utility

Created by a team of Dogecoin enthusiasts and OG community members, the platform will provide yields for holders and allow them to interact with a full range of decentralized products, all paid with DOGE. The process is quite simple — DOGE holders will wrap their coins and receive $wDOGE in return. It’s with these wrapped tokens that the fun (and profit) begins.

• $DOGE holders will be eligible for a massive Dogechain token ($DC) BridgeDrop by wrapping, providing a direct passive yield from your original DOGE.
• Users can also stake $wDOGE on Dogechain, to receive $DC rewards. The mechanism incentivizes long-term holding and provides increased airdrops — the longer the stake, the higher the rewards.
• $DC tokens can also be time-locked, which will provide users with $veDC tokens. These tokens provide additional $DC yields and are the only way users can vote in the Dogechain DAO, which controls the treasury.

Additionally, Dogechain will provide users with a platform for minting NFTs and a marketplace populated with works from the greatest artists available. Gas will be paid with $DC, which indirectly empowers the original DOGE with NFT capabilities!

Governance

The Dogechain token will provide on-chain management and voting for changes and improvements to the ecosystem. $DC token holders and chosen validators will have to meet a minimum requirement to make proposals regarding the development and advancement of Dogechain. Everyone will be able to vote on proposed changes to take Dogechain to new heights and facilitate adoption with a minimal amount of DC tokens being staked. The Dogechain family will determine these minimum values from community feedback.

Wrap-Up (Pun Intended)

First-generation blockchains are certainly having a hard time keeping up with progress compared to their smart contract-enabled siblings. They provide very little incentive for long-term holders mainly because of their lack of options regarding potential yield and utility. Bitcoin remains unphased thanks to its popularity while other coins like Monero that provide privacy features will certainly survive.

Dogecoin, on the other hand, has always suffered during bear markets. The new Dogechain platform could change all of that by bringing additional value to the original meme coin. This would help it stay afloat even during the bleakest of market conditions and provide an incentive to hold it for the incredible yield potential of $DC. Finally, Dogechain will enable DOGE to become a full-fledged DeFi coin, with all the proverbial bells and whistles — high APYs, NFTs, dApps, liquidity mining, and more.

So what’s stopping you? Join our family!

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