As the merge mining debate continues in the Dogecoin community, co-founder Billy Markus offers a non-partisan perspective on the subject. Merge mining, or auxiliary proof of work (AuxPoW), allows users to mine two or more coins, including Dogecoin, with the same hashpower and proof of work without having to split them up.
Markus, who goes by “Shibetoshi Middlemoto” on X, believes that removing merged mining is pointless and should not be done.
I think this reply is disingenuous because I’m not a developer, I don’t invest in crypto altcoins, and I just think I need a proposal that solves an actual problem, not some bullshit one for selfish reasons.
Removing merge mining is pointless and should not be done
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) July 20, 2026
Marcus shares this perspective as a non-developer who has not invested in crypto altcoins. Please note that Marcus has been away from Dogecoin development work since 2014.
Dogecoin was launched by Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer in late 2013. Palmer created the Dogecoin.com website and Markus worked on the first four releases as a solo developer. In 2014, Palmer and Marcus stepped away from development work, but the Dogecoin Core Development Team was formed and has been maintaining and developing Dogecoin ever since.
In the context of what Dogecoin developers have written, Scrypt altcoins refer to Dogecoin, Litecoin, Namecoin, and several other coins that support merge mining. Litecoin and Dogecoin remain the largest and most profitable combination.
Marcus once revealed that he sold all his cryptocurrencies for “one clip.” This included 50 Bitcoins, 440 Litecoins, 6 million Dogecoins and nothing left. If this still continues, he will no longer be able to invest in crypto altcoins, including Dogecoin and Litecoin.
“Stupid and pointless”
Recent discussions about merge mining in the Dogecoin community have attracted a variety of opinions, most of them supportive. Proponents of the current model believe that merge mining allows miners to maximize mining rewards.
In a previous answer on X, Marcus argued that Dogecoin should remain merge-mined and that moving Dogecoin around is foolish and pointless.
Dogecoin and Litecoin implemented merge mining in August 2014. Prior to that, Dogecoin faced potential security risks due to its small hash rate and was vulnerable to 51% attacks due to fewer miners protecting the network.
