Dogecoin Foundation Announces New Developer Fund, Denies Proof-of-Stake Rumors

The Dogecoin Foundation has unveiled a new fund to support developers, aiming to further enhance the ecosystem in 2023. At the same time, the Foundation has clarified that transitioning to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) is still a distant prospect for the project.

Dogecoin Foundation Announces New Developer Fund, Denies Proof-of-Stake Rumors

Over the past weekend, the Dogecoin Foundation announced the allocation of 5 million DOGE to a new fund designed to bolster the development of the platform. Although the current value of this incentive is modest—around $360,000—it marks a significant effort from the Dogecoin Foundation.

This "economic shortfall" is understandable, as the Dogecoin Foundation was originally established by members of the Dogecoin team in 2014 to provide support for the project. However, the organization ceased operations until its revival in 2021 by the core team members along with new faces and seasoned advisors, including Vitalik Buterin and a representative of Elon Musk. Recently, Vitalik Buterin also quietly donated an additional 20 million DOGE to the Foundation.

Returning to the main topic, the new development fund will be held in a multisignature wallet managed by members. It will require three out of five signatures from Dogecoin Core developers—chromatic, Marshall Hayner, Michi Lumin, Patrick Lodder, and Ross Nicoll. These overseers will have no control over the funds beyond managing the distribution of DOGE. The announcement stated:

“The DOGE held in this wallet will be used to reward Dogecoin Core developers for all contributions, regardless of size.”

For each release, 500,000 DOGE will be distributed among developers who have made significant contributions. To ensure transparency, the team has published the wallet address where the fund is kept and will also post blog updates on all expenditures. These updates will be disclosed by the overseers through social media channels.

At the same time as the fund's announcement, developer Michi Lumin addressed rumors about the Dogecoin network transitioning to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Instead, the discussion remains a community proposal rather than an imminent change.

These rumors gained traction, particularly following Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin’s endorsement of PoS. In September 2022, Ethereum completed The Merge, transitioning to PoS, which was followed by Gnosis Chain—one of Ether’s first sidechains—also shifting to a similar consensus mechanism.

Moreover, as the second-largest cryptocurrency operating on a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism after Bitcoin (BTC), combined with its close ties to Vitalik Buterin, the hype surrounding Dogecoin and PoS was somewhat inevitable.