DogeOS opens public testnet to bring smart contract apps to Dogecoin

DogeOS, a network that aims to bring apps such as lending and futures trading to Dogecoin (DOGE), opened its public testnet on Sept. 30 (local time). DogeOS is a separate network developed by the team behind the MyDoge wallet. In a press release datelined Dubai, it said developers can now build apps for Dogecoin the same way they do on Ethereum (EVM-compatible). It did not give a date for its mainnet, the full production launch.

A new layer on top of Dogecoin

Since its launch in 2013, Dogecoin has been used mainly for payments and transfers, and, like Bitcoin, it cannot easily run complex programs (smart contracts) directly. DogeOS leaves the Dogecoin base chain untouched and adds a separate layer on top of it (a layer 2). Transactions are batched and processed on that layer, which uses zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to show mathematically that the processing was correct. Ethereum developer tools and smart contracts can be used as they are, and fees are paid in DOGE. Dogecoin's own rules and supply do not change.

The testnet is called "Chikyū." According to the developer documentation, moving test DOGE from the Dogecoin testnet to DogeOS, or back, can take up to four hours, and DogeOS says of the bridge: "This is a very early implementation of the bridge specifically for testnet. There may be delays or other unknown issues." Test DOGE is available from a faucet. According to The Block, the network currently relies on a trusted execution environment (TEE), validators and a permissioned sequencer.

Lending, futures and stablecoin apps arrive first

More than 10 teams were named in the press release. By category:

• Trading and lending: liquidity engine Barkswap, Dogecoin lending protocol Superposition Finance, perpetual futures exchange Derps and non-liquidatable options platform Split Markets
• Stablecoins and prediction markets: stablecoin USDoge, minted against deposited collateral, and prediction market aggregator Snag
• Launchpads and games: launchpads Anoncoin and Starbase, and games and consumer apps Doge Escape, PlaysOut and DogeFundMe

"The testnet gives builders a place to turn ideas for Dogecoin into working applications. … Today marks the beginning of Dogecoin's evolution from asset to ecosystem."

Jordan Jefferson, founder and CEO of DogeOS

Timothy Stebbing, a director of the Dogecoin Foundation, said in the press release: "My hopes are that DogeOS becomes the spring-board for a wave of new utility engineering, the gateway for the next 100 startups to build on Dogecoin."

Base-layer upgrade proposal still under discussion

On July 22, 2025, the DogeOS team proposed a new opcode, OP_CHECKZKP, on Dogecoin's developer forum (GitHub) that would let the Dogecoin base chain verify zero-knowledge proofs directly. It would repurpose an unused opcode slot (OP_NOP10) through a soft fork, keeping it compatible with existing nodes. DogeOS says that if the proposal is adopted, Dogecoin miners would be able to verify proofs of DogeOS's processing results directly.

On the forum, Dogecoin Core maintainer Patrick Lodder joined the discussion, raising soft-fork mechanics and performance issues, while other participants voiced concerns that it would undermine Dogecoin's simplicity, create denial-of-service risks from heavy verification workloads and rely on cryptography vulnerable to quantum computers. Comments continued through February this year, and no decision on adoption has been made.

MyDoge had more than half a million users as of a July 2025 press release. According to The Block, DogeOS raised $6.9 million in May 2025 in a round led by Polychain Capital. Jefferson told The Block: "We're focused on the public testnet, giving developers time to build and test applications while we validate the network."

Dogecoin on Upbit trades at a third of its year-ago high

Dogecoin is listed on the Korean won markets of both Upbit and Bithumb. As of 7:30 a.m. KST on Oct. 1, it traded at 128 won on Upbit and 129 won on Bithumb. At the same time, it was at $0.0946 on Binance, up 0.7% over 24 hours. Converted to won, the price was almost the same as on Upbit, putting the kimchi premium (the gap between prices on Korean exchanges and global markets) within 0.1%. Dogecoin's one-year high on Upbit was 384 won on Oct. 6, 2025, and its low was 96.9 won on Aug. 6, 2026, leaving the current price at about a third of the high a year ago. Upbit's 24-hour trading volume was about 35.3 billion won, and the Binance perpetual futures funding rate (the fee longs and shorts pay each other to keep futures in line with spot prices) was 0.0049%, close to neutral.