Dogecoin Transaction Data Bug Discovered In Block Explorers

Blockchair, a popular block explorer, has discovered a minor bug concerning the reporting of Dogecoin transaction data. This bug has reportedly affected “all the existing explorers,” including Dogechain.info and Blockcypher.com. Blockchair, meanwhile, has fixed the issue on its own site as of February 4th.

How to create $DOGE out of thin air (don’t try this at home 🐞): https://t.co/Uw9anQcsgw

— Blockchair (@Blockchair) February 4, 2019

The problem arises from the fact that different programming languages use different rounding methods, which can produce imprecise numerical data. When JSON data provided by Dogecoin nodes is handled by a block explorer, reported values are often slightly off. Fortunately, this doesn’t prevent transactions from succeeding.

However, accurate data is an essential part of verifying transactions manually, and since Dogecoin’s values are measured to several decimal points, the problem is widespread. The errors are often blatant: some explorers display negative fees, while others display incorrect output values. Blockchair displays the correct data here.

The bug has now been submitted to GitHub, and if Dogecoin developers fix the issue, other explorers should display transaction data correctly in the near future. Blockchair’s own Dogecoin explorer was released at the end of January, and the site has now added a local fix, meaning that the team discovered and solved the problem quite quickly.

Blockchair, apart from its relentless pursuit of accuracy, is also on its way to becoming one of the most versatile block explorers. Last year, it introduced printable receipts as a convenient feature. This January, it added a market tracker for investors and database dumps for analysts. Basically, Blockchair’s variety of features should appeal to all types of crypto users.

Dogecoin, meanwhile, is also keeping up its image. Although no major bugs have affected Dogecoin itself, other issues have occurred: major online wallets suffered breaches in 2013 and 2014, and the coin’s original tipping system shut down in 2017. However, last fall’s release of Dogethereum greatly benefited Dogecoin and has led to an ongoing resurgence for the coin.