A debate is spreading in the Dogecoin community over the token's growth direction.

On Oct. 28, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that a DogeOS executive said there is almost no on-chain capital in use compared with Dogecoin's market capitalisation, prompting rebuttals within the community.

The debate began with remarks by BuidrJ (빌더J), chief strategy officer at DogeOS, who is active on X, formerly Twitter. He argued that, given Dogecoin's size, there are effectively no developers building the ecosystem. Dogecoin core developer Chromia X pushed back, saying it amounted to ignoring the work she has done.

BuidrJ said Dogecoin has a market capitalisation of $12.3 billion but only about $11 million of capital is deployed on-chain. He compared this with Ethereum, which has $46.4 billion locked in decentralised finance, and Solana, which has $5.7 billion, saying each has a higher share relative to its market capitalisation. Based on this, he said Dogecoin is 100 times behind other major cryptocurrencies.

He also said it is not that Dogecoin holders do not want to put assets on-chain, but that there has been no on-chain utility to support growth in total value locked. He said this structure is also reflected in the prices of the three assets.

Dogecoin community activist Mishaboar challenged the benchmark itself. He said BuidrJ was judging Dogecoin's success only by the amount of capital deposited into DeFi protocols, and that such protocols can expose users to additional risks. He stressed that "Dogecoin was never meant to be Ethereum or Solana." He said it grew with the idea of being a funny, decentralised, permissionless currency that anyone can use.

Mishaboar cited Dogecoin's simplicity as a strength. Locking more Dogecoin into financial apps does not necessarily provide greater utility or value for ordinary users, he said, adding that TVL is not a metric that shows how good a currency is.

He pointed to strict code reviews and security research as key tasks for Dogecoin. He said priorities include open-source node software, a lightweight wallet that minimises dependence on third parties, and development of an easy-to-use interface while protecting users' privacy and fund security.

At the heart of the debate is Dogecoin's growth direction. Views are split over whether to expand DeFi and on-chain financial functions or to maintain its identity as a simple payment cryptocurrency while strengthening its underlying software and security. The dispute remains over whether to use TVL expansion or usability as a currency as the benchmark for growth.

Of course, you are defining Dogecoin's success by how much capital people deposit into DeFi protocols, which introduce varying degrees of additional risk for their users. And, of course, that happens to be exactly the business your company wants to build. Dogecoin was never meant to be Ethereum or Solana. It grew up (for some) with the promise of being a funny decentralized, permissionless currency. Others, saw (and still see it) as something worth hoarding. But in the end, simplicity is one of its greatest strengths, not a deficiency. That's also what attracted some of your own heroes to it in the first place. Also, TVL is certainly not a measure of how good a currency is. Locking more DOGE into two thousand crappy, poorly maintained financial apps like those on ETH or SOL (each risky in its own way for users, now more than ever, because transferring risk onto uninformed users is one of the most profitable business models in crypto) doesn't automatically make it more useful or more valuable for the average user. Of course, I know it's the wet dream of many crypto entrepreneurs, eager, if not seemingly desperate, to get their hands on all that liquidity that ordinary people are holding. Build whatever commercial products you want around Dogecoin, with your owners and colleagues. If they are good, transparent, and worth the risks they introduce, people will use them. Heck, actually people will use them even if they are not good and totally immoral schemes but they create addiction - this is the pumpfun/meme token business model I suspect you enjoy too and that you hope your users will enjoy. Just, don't present your company's business model as something Dogecoin itself NEEDS. That marketing blabbering has no power on many people, including on the billionaires you desperately try to gravitate around.