Only a couple of years ago the world just began hearing the term meme coin to some degree of regularity. Now, since the move of the Ethereum blockchain network to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, Dogecoin, perhaps the first globally-recognized meme coin, became the first of all altcoins to run by Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus and the second largest of all listed digital blockchain-based currencies to implement PoW.
How Dogecoin Became The Top PoW Altcoin
Dogecoin has been a top 10 cryptocurrency consistently since early 2021. DOGE, the cryptocurrency coin, was the first of the “dog coins”, launched in 2013 onto an independently built PoW-based blockchain which developed upon many of the features used in the Litecoin network infrastructure. Dogecoin first crossed into the top 10 as early as 2015, but since early 2021 the coin which started as a parity and light-hearted entry for newcomers into the crypto market, has spent most of its time in the top 10 without interruption.
The only altcoin operating by PoW which was ahead of Dogecoin was the Ethereum network. The Ethereum merge transitioned the platform to a fundamentally PoS consensus mechanism, as its original underlying operational blockchain was layered with the network’s Beacon Chain which is said to not only change the network validation method, but will ultimately be the gateway to increasing efficiency by enabling the integration of shard chains to assist in network processing. The move automatically meant that Dogecoin would take over the spot which Ethereum vacated due to the change.
The Rest Of The Proof-of-Work Field
Dogecoin is positioned pretty well beyond other PoW blockchain projects and associated cryptocurrencies. Currently Dogecoin’s market cap is around $7.83 billion. The closest PoW blockchain and Altcoin to Dogecoin is Ethereum Classic (ETC) which currently sits at a market cap of around $4.69 billion, while Litecoin (LTC) is just over $4 billion and Monero (XMR) sits around $2.65 billion in total market capitalization.
The only Proof-of-Work ecosystem that sits beyond Dogecoin is Bitcoin. Anyone who follows the original digital asset and latest Bitcoin news knows and understands that BTC is not an Altcoin, which is why even with its dominance over the entire crypto market, Dogecoin is now officially the top PoW Altcoin by total market cap.
Summary And Conclusion
Dogecoin’s move to top PoW Altcoin could also have positive implications perhaps, for other meme coins in a similar classification such as Shiba Inu. The “Dogecoin killer” as it is known by some, trades not too far behind Dogecoin at a $6.3 billion dollar market capitalization at the time of writing. A pretty significant difference is that with the Ethereum crypto news of the completed merger this past Thursday, that also moved the Shiba Inu dog coin, meme coin to PoS since it is deployed on the Ethereum network.
Now what remains to be seen is if PoW will be able to keep an increased level of attention and interest from investors in the cryptocurrency space. As of late, much of the industry has preferred to build and move to PoS and other evolved consensus mechanisms mainly in search of greater energy efficient methods of operating.
