Billy Markus, a co-founder of Dogecoin and known as “Shibetoshi Nakamoto” on X, recently responded to concerns about Dogecoin’s security, particularly how it’s connected to Litecoin through a process called merge mining. He referenced the original Bitcoin white paper in his explanation.
The conversation started when Paulo Vidal, a developer with the Dogecoin Foundation, raised some important questions. He wants to know if Dogecoin relies on Litecoin for its security, and what would happen to Dogecoin’s safety if Litecoin were to shut down. He also questioned whether miners are primarily supporting Litecoin, or if the extra rewards from Dogecoin and similar networks play a major role in keeping them engaged.
As I’ve been researching, it’s clear that AuxPoW has been a positive force for Dogecoin in the past. However, I’m now investigating whether it’s still the best approach for its future development.
Shiba Inu (SHIB), Solana (SOL), Hyperliquid (HYPE) and XRP Price Analysis for July 20: Fresh Week Without Fresh Liquidity
Ethereum Developer Consensys Denies User Data Was Compromised
Let’s say Litecoin suddenly stopped existing. Why would you think that wouldn’t impact Dogecoin’s security? You should really review the original Bitcoin white paper to understand how mining works – miners are motivated by rewards. Frankly, after our lengthy discussion, I don’t believe you’re actually interested in understanding the technical details.
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) July 19, 2026
The Dogecoin co-founder directly responded to a question about how Dogecoin’s security would be affected if Litecoin stopped working. They referenced the original white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, to explain their position.
Markus explained that miners are motivated by rewards, a key aspect of how Dogecoin uses merge mining. He strongly disagreed with Vidal’s criticisms, dismissing them as unfounded.
Dogecoin merge mining attracts debate
Merge mining, also known as Auxiliary Proof of Work, lets people mine multiple cryptocurrencies simultaneously using the same computing power, without needing to divide their resources.
Talk about merge mining recently has revealed that people in the Dogecoin community, and the wider cryptocurrency world, disagree on the topic.
As a crypto investor, I found David Schwartz’s (Dasch) take on Dogecoin really interesting. He’s with the Litecoin Foundation, and he firmly believes merge mining with Litecoin is still the way to go for Dogecoin. He basically said that even *without* any added benefits to Litecoin, he’d still support it – it was the right decision when it started, and he thinks it remains the right decision today.
Billy Markus, a co-founder of Dogecoin, thinks the cryptocurrency should continue to be merge mined, calling a change “unnecessary and illogical.”
2026-07-20 14:17