What is Dogechain? The so-called Dogecoin ‘Layer-2’ for DeFi, NFT and games

Dogecoin may have started as a joke, but the leading meme coin could get a lot more useful with the launch of Dogechain-in a way.

Like Dogecoin’s price pumps today– up 11% in the last 24 hours – much of the talk around it right now concerns a so-called “layer-2 for Dogecoin” called Dogechain, which is billed to enable the creation of DeFi protocols, NFT collectibles, and decentralized apps (dapps) and games.

However, Dogechain is not a true layer-2 network in that it is not built on top of Dogecoin. Instead, it is a separate network based on Polygon Edge, which is customized blockchain software from Polygonthe most popular Ethereum side chain. And it’s compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, meaning it can run apps and games built for it Ethereum.

However, it is not an “official” Dogecoin project. Dogecoin Foundation retweeted a message today which says it is not involved with Dogechain, nor are the coin’s original founders, Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus. They clarified that it is also not related to a Dogecoin blockchain explorer that shares the name.

Dogecoin (DOGE) holders can bridge ownership of Dogechain to receive Wrapped Dogecoin (wDOGE) in return and then use it on the new platform to interact with DeFi apps as well as potential future NFT marketplaces, dapps and game.

Dogechain is already up and running, allowing users to transfer over and interact with DOGE decentralized exchanges (DEX) to buy new tokens minted on the chain. Dogecoin can also be used to pay gasfees on transactions on Dogechain, per the official website, which has the same goofy, meme-y vibes common among the Dogecoin community.

In accordance DEX Screenerto a value of around 21 million dollars tokens have been traded on Dogechain in the past 24 hours, with DogeSwap leading the charge with a value of $16 million. Top symbols include Doge Eat Doge (OMNOM), DogeShrek, Bourbon and PinkyDoge (PINKY).

Per one tweet todaythe Dogechain team claims users have already created more than 58,000 wallets since the network launched five days ago, along with more than 480,000 total transactions.

The Dogechain website makes a number of long-term promises about its planned future airdrop of native DC tokens for Dogecoin holders. Even people holding Dogecoin on the crypto and stock trading app Robin Hood will be able to receive free DC tokens when they withdraw their DOGE from the app, the site claims.

Whether or not these promises are ultimately kept, however, remains to be seen. And with the declarations that Dogecoin’s creators and core developers are not involved, there is understandable caution among social media users about Dogechain.

Some have compared it to BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain, or BSC), where launching new tokens is easy and pump-and-dump schemes are common. Roc Zacharias, a co-founder of Polygon DEX QuickSwap who describes himself as a core contributor to Dogechain, tweeted as much. “It’s literally the Wild West on Dogechain,” he added.

On the other hand, some are excited about the opportunity to play with apps and tokens on a Dogecoin-themed chain, speculating on tokens with silly names.

“Bridging to Dogechain, probably going to lose everything. Wish me luck,” tweeted a crypto investor who goes by the pseudonym Baggy. Soon after, they added: “Haven’t bought this many shitcoins in a long, long time.”

“[Obviously] lots of wild speculation and shitcoins, but as the first major festival after being locked down in two [years]”, crypto investor added Roger AVAX on Twitter. “[Probably] too bad for you, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Interesting, rival Ethereum-based token Shiba Inu (SHIB) – based on the same dog as original Doge meme—is set to launch its own layer-2 scaling network called Shibarium.