Dogecoin Community Figure Says DeFi TVL Does Not Measure Currency Quality

Dogecoin community figure Mishaboar argued Oct. 28 that assets held in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications do not determine whether Dogecoin (DOGE) is a good currency, focusing attention on how the network should be evaluated as its ecosystem grows. In a reply to DogeOS account @BuildrJ, he rejected treating Dogecoin as a version of Ethereum or Solana.

“Dogecoin was never meant to be Ethereum or Solana,” Mishaboar wrote. He described simplicity as one of DOGE’s strongest features and said total value locked (TVL) cannot serve as a measure of a currency’s quality. TVL measures the dollar value of assets in DeFi contracts, capturing one part of an ecosystem rather than every use of a payment currency.

Mishaboar also addressed how commercial projects fit around Dogecoin. He argued that such projects can build products for DOGE users while being transparent about risks and avoiding the suggestion that their business models are something Dogecoin itself requires. In his view, the currency and businesses built around it are distinct.

He identified code review and security research, additional open-source node implementations, and lightweight wallets as areas deserving attention. Mishaboar said wallets should protect users’ privacy and control over their funds. Those priorities put the focus on software and tools for using Dogecoin, rather than on the capital locked in DeFi applications.

Dogecoin is an open-source, peer-to-peer digital currency. Co-creators Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer stopped working on its development in 2014. Maintainers later oversaw contributions from more than 40 people over the years, with contributors able to work on Dogecoin Core or services built around the currency.

DogeOS’s Chikyū testnet is one effort to build an application environment around DOGE. Developers can test applications there, pay transaction fees in DOGE and use Ethereum development tools. The testnet adds an application-building environment alongside Dogecoin’s role as a peer-to-peer currency, while Mishaboar argues that app-based TVL is not a measure of currency quality.