Litecoin vs dogecoin mining profitability compared
You are considering buying a Scrypt ASIC. The question is straightforward: which chain pays better? The answer is not.
The two networks are merge-mined. That changes the calculation entirely. A single Scrypt miner running on Litecoin’s pool can earn Dogecoin block rewards simultaneously, at no extra electricity cost. You do not have to choose. But you still need to understand what you are actually getting paid for.
The Hardware Cost
A new Scrypt ASIC, as of late 2025, costs somewhere between $2,000 and $15,000 depending on model and hash rate. The Bitmain Antminer L7, for example, delivers roughly 9.5 GH/s. Used units trade lower. Prices shift weekly.
You need to know the machine’s wattage. An L7 draws about 3425 watts. At $0.10 per kWh, that is roughly $0.34 per hour. At $0.20 per kWh, it is $0.69 per hour. Electricity is the recurring cost that eats into every reward. It is also the one you can predict most accurately.
The Block Rewards
Litecoin’s current block reward is 6.25 LTC per block. Dogecoin’s is 10,000 DOGE per block. The two are not comparable in dollar terms without a live price check.
On a given day, the combined block reward for a merge-mined block might be worth $30 to $50. That is gross revenue before pool fees and electricity. The split between LTC and DOGE depends on the relative market prices at that moment. Historically, Dogecoin has contributed a meaningful fraction of the total. Sometimes a third. Sometimes half.
Pool fees and whattomine
Mining pools charge a fee, typically 1% to 2% of your payout. Some pools offer merged mining automatically. Others require configuration. If you set up for Litecoin only, you forfeit Dogecoin rewards. That is leaving money on the table.
WhatToMine is a calculator that lets you input your hash rate, power draw, electricity cost, and pool fee. It returns estimated daily, weekly, and monthly revenue for each coin. The site updates prices and network difficulty every few minutes. But it is only as good as the inputs you give it.
You must supply your own electricity rate. WhatToMine defaults to $0.10 per kWh, which is low for many residential users. If you pay $0.30 per kWh, the calculator will overstate your profit. Adjust that field.
The difficulty field is pulled from the network automatically. You cannot change it. That matters because difficulty adjusts every 3.5 days on Litecoin and every minute on Dogecoin. Short-term swings can make a one-day estimate misleading.
The Merge-Mining Complication
Merge mining means you can mine both chains at once. A single hash on Litecoin’s proof-of-work also counts toward Dogecoin’s proof-of-work, thanks to AuxPoW. The result is that you cannot cleanly compare Litecoin profitability versus Dogecoin profitability as if they were separate choices. They are not.
If you mine Litecoin on a pool that supports merge mining, you will receive DOGE as a side reward. If you mine Dogecoin directly, you are still hashing Litecoin’s algorithm. The two are tied.
The practical decision is not which coin to mine. It is which pool to join. Pools distribute rewards differently. Some pay out in LTC only. Some pay in both. Some pay in Bitcoin. The pool’s payout policy determines what you actually receive.
ASIC Obsolescence Risk
Scrypt ASICs do not last forever. Network difficulty rises over time as more efficient hardware comes online. A machine that is profitable today may become unprofitable in 18 months. That is especially true if the price of either LTC or DOGE falls.
The resale value of used ASICs drops sharply after a new generation is released. You cannot assume you will recover your initial hardware cost. If you are buying a machine today, you should model a worst-case scenario where difficulty doubles and prices stay flat. If the math still works, you have a realistic plan. If it only works with optimistic price assumptions, you are gambling.
What the numbers actually mean
No one can give you a fixed profitability figure that will hold for more than a few days. Prices change. Difficulty changes. Electricity rates change. The best you can do is run the numbers yourself on the day you are reading this, using your actual hardware specs and your actual power cost.
WhatToMine is a starting point. So is your local electricity bill. Combine the two, and you will have a clearer picture than any article can provide.
Not financial advice. doge2onsol.xyz publishes market data and general information about Dogecoin20. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose everything you put in. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold, and we make no price predictions.
Prices are sourced from third parties and may be delayed or wrong. Verify anything you intend to act on against a primary source.