Dogecoin Co-Creator Says Meme Crypto Has Been 'One Of The Most Secure Coins' For Years

Dogecoin (DOGE) co-creator Billy Markus said that the Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency emerged as “one of the most secure coins” on the Proof of Work blockchain ever since a key move it made seven years ago.

What Happened: Markus laid out the security advantages of DOGE in a conversation with Benzinga on Monday.

See Also: How to Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)

“I think after Dogecoin implemented AuxPOW, it became one of the most secure coins on a Proof of Work blockchain,” revealed Markus.

The Auxiliary proof-of-work or AuxPOW switch was announced in August 2014 — post a suggestion by the creator of Litecoin (LTC) Charlie Lee on Reddit.

AuxPoW allows one cryptocurrency to leverage work done on another cryptocurrency in essence creating a parent and an auxiliary blockchain.

The co-creator of Dogecoin told Benzinga that, post the implementation of AuxPOW, the cryptocurrency “can merge mine with any Scrypt coin.”

Markus pointed towards the resulting environmental advantages, saying, “[Dogecoin] gets the benefits of high hash rate without as significant of a carbon footprint as other Scrypt coins, making it very robust and secure.

In an earlier post on Twitter in April, Markus said that “trying to help the [Dogecoin] community to accept AuxPow” was the last thing he did before moving away from the project in 2014.

Markus said he “wouldn’t change a thing” if he was still associated with Dogecoin as a developer today. He said, “it's been incredible (sic) successful and enjoyed great longevity, which is quite rare in this space.”

“There are 5000 coins listed on CoinMarketCap and many thousands more dead coins and it is currently 6th in market cap. I wouldn't change a single thing.”

At press time, DOGE had a market cap of $34.6 billion and was placed at the number seven spot on CoinMarketCap's list of cryptocurrencies arranged by that metric.

Why It Matters: From the security point of view, a small or low-hash proof-of-work blockchain can reinforce itself against a so-called 51% attack by using the hash power of a larger blockchain. 

Since proof-of-work blockchains depend on the distribution of hashing power, should the price of a coin fall to levels that makes mining unprofitable, it is plausible that a significant amount of miners may abandon such a coin leading to a single entity obtaining more than 50% of the hashing power and establishing a mining monopoly in effect controlling the coin and the blockchain.

See Also: Dogecoin Creator Defends Meme Crypto's Supply: Doesn't 'Matter For Price'

Last week, OkCoin COO Jason Lau told Benzinga that Dogecoin was “secured by proof of work and has never had any security issues.”

“It’s clear that beyond being a joke, technologically sound ‘meme’ coins have a place in the cryptosphere as they are fun and community driven,” said Lau.

Markus had earlier pointed out that Dogecoin’s security had kept pace with Bitcoin (BTC) and denied claims that the project had turned stagnant.

DOGE traded 4.44% higher at $0.27 at press time, while BTC traded 7.11% higher at $53,715.22.

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