Dogecoin (DOGE) fee change proposal suggests 100X lower transaction fees

Published , by Sam Chandler

What better way to start off your week than with a bit of news about Dogecoin? There is a fee change proposal coming to the popular cryptocurrency that looks to lower transaction fees by 100x for standard transactions.

The news was written up by Patrick Lodder and posted to GitHub on Sunday, June 27, 2021. In the post, Lodder goes into great detail to explain the proposed fee change. The post begins by outlining the fee policy that was implemented to prevent spam and what has happened in recent years as exchange rates have increased against USD and BTC. “DOGE used to be 10x cheaper than transacting LTC,” writes Lodder. “It is as of writing nearly 5x more expensive.”

The post goes on to outline some of the proposed fee changes:

  1. Lower the minimal relay fee to 0.001 DOGE
  2. Lower the dust limit to 0.01 DOGE
  3. Set the default block inclusion fee rate to 0.01 DOGE
  4. Bring back a functional free transaction space
  5. Lower the default fee rate to 0.01 DOGE

Lodder also took to Reddit to offer a TLDR of the GitHub post, writing:

This proposal to all Dogecoin stakeholders suggests to reduce average fees 100x for standard transactions on the Dogecoin chain, split full control over all aspects of fees between miners and node operators, rely less on core development, and bring back a functional (small) free transaction space that incentivizes keeping the network healthy.

Reddit’s response to the proposed changes has been positive, with numerous users writing “Approved” or “Agreed”. One user writes, “I'm more than happy to keep my Node running and support this change toward positive outcomes as long as the community stands with the change.”

Another user wonders at the effect whales (investors with gargantuan sums) might have on the price. “If whales try to suppress Doge price to certain low level such that they can launch spam attack on Doge with this lower fee, is there mechanism we can defend it?” Lodder assuages the fears stating that raising fees is easy, and can be done by miners should things get out of hand. Following that, it’s not in a whale’s best interest to spend all of the DOGE they’ve purchased. Lodder brings the discussion back to the risk of spam, “I think the biggest problem to defend against would be a spam protocol that goes viral much more than individual holders.”

Even Elon Musk has stated his support of the changes.

What do you think of the proposed fee change for Dogecoin (DOGE)? Be sure to leave your comments in the Chatty thread below and also visit the GitHub link and leave your comments for the developers. Be sure to check out the Shacknews Dogecoin page for more coverage of the people’s cryptocurrency.