Merged Mining Explained: How Scrypt Miners Earn LTC + DOGE
Merged mining (AuxPoW) lets one Scrypt ASIC mine Litecoin and Dogecoin at the same time — here's how it works and why it matters for profitability.
Scrypt miners like the Antminer L9 don't choose between Litecoin and Dogecoin — they mine both at once. The technique is called merged mining, standardized as AuxPoW (Auxiliary Proof of Work).
The miner's proof-of-work is submitted to the Litecoin network, and the same work is embedded in a Dogecoin block via a cryptographic proof. Dogecoin accepts Litecoin's work as valid for its own chain. No extra electricity, no split hashrate — genuinely free additional revenue.
In practice DOGE adds 30–60% on top of LTC revenue depending on the DOGE price, which is why Scrypt hashprice ($/GH/day) looks so rich compared to the LTC-only math. When comparing Scrypt miners, always use merged-mining revenue — any calculator showing LTC-only income is missing a third to half the picture.