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Moreover, the technical platforms are quite similar since Doge is a distant descendant of the Bitcoin system — with some tweaks along the way.
Based on a 2008 white paper by a still-unknown author by the code name Satoshi Nakamoto, the first Bitcoin block was mined in 2009 and the first commercial transaction took place the next year.
It wasn’t long before specialized Bitcoin mining semiconductors appeared on the market, ripping through the mining algorithms at speeds that even the best PC hardware couldn’t match.
This cryptocurrency uses a different mining algorithm known as scrypt, a deliberate choice that makes it better suited for ordinary computer systems. Furthermore, Litecoin’s technical parameters are different, resulting in faster transaction settlements and a lifetime maximum of 84 million coins versus 21 million for Bitcoin.
Next in this heritage chain was Junkcoin, an experimental offspring of Litecoin that stuck with the PC-friendly scrypt system and raised the number of total coins.
Each new Dogecoin block is also rewarded with 10,000 new tokens, compared to 50 Litecoins or 6.25 Bitcoins per freshly mined block of those cryptocurrencies.
You can also pay for things with this digital coin, but money transfers take a while and come with significant transaction fees.
The technical tweaks have created a more nimble system for digital payments with faster and cheaper transactions, but at the cost of weaker data security.
Bitcoin miners have to use specialized chips because PC processors and graphics cards simply can’t compete against chips specially designed to process the underlying SHA-256 encryption routine.
At the end of the day, these two cryptocurrencies have a lot of shared DNA and history but are very different when it comes to real-world utility.
The coin has one more thing going for it, and that’s the lighthearted marketing message with microscopic coin prices and a cute mascot.