DRC-20 is a set of inscription-based conventions for representing fungible token operations on Dogecoin. Typical payloads describe deployment, minting and transfer actions. Unlike ERC-20, DRC-20 does not use a smart contract to maintain balances: an indexer reads inscriptions and reconstructs the token ledger according to its rules.
| Reference documentation | DogeSoft implementation docs |
|---|---|
| Directories | Dogecoin Directory |
How DRC-20 works
In the documented convention, an inscription can declare a token identifier, supply limit and mint limit. Other inscriptions request minting or transfer actions. Indexer software processes those records in order and displays the resulting balances. The inscription data is recorded in Dogecoin transactions, but the token accounting is an interpretation layered on top of those transactions.
It is not an ERC-20 smart contract
ERC-20 balances and transfer rules are maintained by an Ethereum smart contract. DRC-20 balances are reconstructed by indexers from inscription data; Dogecoin’s consensus rules do not validate a DRC-20 token ledger or reject an inscription because its token operation is invalid. A token can therefore appear differently in tools that use different indexing rules or implementations. DogeSoft’s documentation describes its own implementation and indexer rather than a universal Dogecoin consensus standard.
Practical limitations
DRC-20 is experimental and its balance data depends on the indexer and inscription conventions a service supports. Check the token identifier, transaction history and specific marketplace or wallet rules before interacting. A ticker name alone is not a globally unique smart-contract address, and a listing does not establish that every indexer recognizes the same asset.
Related Terms
See Also
Sources
- DogeSoft: DRC-20 Protocol — Describes DogeSoft’s inscription implementation, deploy/mint/transfer operations and indexer-derived balances.
- Apezord: Doginals repository — Original Dogecoin inscription tooling and protocol notes that provide the underlying inscription context.