Dogecoin 1.6 mandatory wallet update released, fixed block reward coming

Heads up to all you people out there with some Dogecoin in your portfolio. The developers have released the new wallet, version 1.6 — this is a mandatory update which needs to be updated before block 145,000.

After block 145,000 the network will hardfork, implementing some changes that should do the coin some good after a slow decline in value over the last couple of weeks. The random block reward will now be replaced with a fixed one; 250,000 DOGE until the next halving.

The developers have also implemented to DigiShield difficulty algorithm, which will lead to much faster retarget times and help to eliminate some of the issues caused by multipools joining and leaving the network. A 4 hour wait will also be implemented before being able to spend mined coins, this is to help alleviate any possible network forks in the future.

You can download the new version from the official developer blog. Be sure to back up before updating, just in case.