Dogecoin Is Getting Apps as DogeOS Opens Its Public Testnet

In brief

• DogeOS opened the public testnet of its EVM-compatible application layer for Dogecoin on Sept. 30.
• Fees on the testnet are paid in DOGE, and the teams building on it include a lending protocol, a perpetual exchange, a stablecoin and a prediction market aggregator.
• There is no mainnet launch date set just yet.

DogeOS opened the public testnet for its Dogecoin application layer on Wednesday, per its press release. A testnet is a trial version of a network, where developers test apps before real money is involved.

Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus created Dogecoin in 2013 as a joke. It works as a peer-to-peer digital currency. Since then it has evolved quite a lot, becoming a multi-billion dollar network, a social symbol, and a serious investment for some people with deep pockets.

Technically speaking, DogeOS wants to add what Ethereum is known for: apps. In plain terms, Dogecoin is the ledger, and DogeOS is an attempt to build the software on top of it. The team behind the MyDoge wallet founded the project, and it runs as a separate layer rather than changing the coin itself.

Its documentation calls it an "Application Layer rollup network on Dogecoin" running on a zkVM, software that generates cryptographic proofs—essentially math receipts—that transactions are valid. It is also EVM-compatible, meaning the self-running programs called smart contracts, along with the wallets and tools built for Ethereum, work there too.