First published 17 April 2020. Expanded in October 2026 so the flat subsidy and the merge-mining are on the same page as the joke. Dogecoin is a proof-of-work ledger. DOGE is the coin. Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer launched it in December 2013, forking the code of a Litecoin derivative and starting a new history, with a dog meme as the brand. A new history means holders of bitcoin or litecoin did not receive DOGE. A meme means the marketing was a joke on purpose. The issuance schedule is not a joke. It is a number in the software.
What is Litecoin (LTC)? is the chain this one shares a mining machine with. What is Bitcoin, in plain language is the older notebook both of them descend from, at different removes. This page is Dogecoin.
How the coins are issued
Blocks are aimed at about one minute. The proof-of-work function is Scrypt, the same family as Litecoin. The early rewards stepped down. Since block 600,000 in 2015, the subsidy has been a flat 10,000 DOGE per block, plus fees, and the code does not halve it again. There is no supply cap. At the one-minute target that is on the order of 5 billion new DOGE a year. The target is not a metronome. The rule is 10,000, not a date.
A flat subsidy is a choice about miner pay. It is not a reason the price must fall, and it is not a coupon for holders. Anyone who says you must “claim” a Dogecoin event wants a phrase or a fee. Nothing in the issuance schedule arrives in your wallet by itself.
Merge-mining is shared work, not a shared coin
On 11 September 2014, at block 371,337, Dogecoin switched on auxiliary proof of work. A miner doing Scrypt work for Litecoin can attach that work to a Dogecoin block as well. The pools that bother to do this earn both. The chains do not merge. A Litecoin halving does not cut the 10,000 DOGE. A Dogecoin address will not receive LTC. What is Litecoin (LTC)? covers the other side of the same machines.
Famous people posting about the coin do not edit that software. A tweet is not a protocol upgrade. Palmer stepped away years ago. Markus is not a helpdesk. There is no company that can reverse a confirmed send.
Addresses
Ordinary Dogecoin addresses start with D. They are not Litecoin addresses, which often start with L or ltc1, and they are not Ethereum addresses. A multi-coin wallet will let you pick the wrong one and call it a typo after the fact. There is no destination tag on a normal DOGE payment. If a page demands a memo, read whether you are depositing to an exchange that added one, or looking at a different asset. The wrong network is still the wrong city.
Dogecoin is not a token on Ethereum. Wrapped versions exist and are someone else’s contract. The icon in a list is not the chain. Nothing here is an instruction to buy, mine, or move DOGE.
