'Dogecoin Is Currently Sick': DOGE Dev Flags Network Congestion Issues As Inscriptions Flood System

Dogecoin DOGE/USD, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, has run into technical difficulties as reported by Timothy Stebbing, a developer associated with the project. 

What Happened: On Tuesday, Stebbing took to X to address the issue, indicating that the network was experiencing heavy congestion. “Dogecoin is currently sick,” he stated. Several cryptocurrency exchanges have encountered problems with Dogecoin transactions being jammed or unresponsive.

According to Stebbing, the congestion results from the network being clogged by inscriptions. In response, developers from Dogecoin core, the foundation, and others, are collectively brainstorming a range of potential remedies. “We’re looking at ideas from friendly to extreme to protect the currency-first Dogecoin network,” he tweeted.

Stebbing also touched upon the decentralization of Dogecoin, pointing out the importance of community discussion to navigate this challenge. He mentioned Dogechain and Doglabs (doginals), initiatives that are utilizing the Dogecoin network beyond its currency application, which he does not oppose, but he emphasized that if these uses jeopardize Dogecoin’s primary function as a currency, it poses a significant concern for the community.

In reflection on potential long-term fixes, Stebbing said, “I’ll tell you now that in my opinion a time is coming when data needs to be moved off-chain at the protocol level.” He further outlined his stance on the core functionality of Dogecoin’s layer 1 (L1) protocol, suggesting that it should be dedicated to "validation" rather than storage.

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Why It Matters: Dogecoin has its roots dating back to 2013, created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. It was initially conceived as a fork of Lucky Coin, which itself was derived from Litecoin, and by extension, Bitcoin BTC/USD Core. As the original developer, Billy Markus handled the early software releases for the coin.

However, in 2014, with the departure of Markus and Palmer from the Dogecoin project, a new team of developers took charge of sustaining and maintaining the Dogecoin Core repository. This team has evolved over the years, coordinating a constellation of cumulative efforts from more than 40 contributors to keep the digital currency alive and well.

Photo via Shutterstock

Price Action: DOGE was trading at $0.078, up 0.76% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

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