How to Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)

If you want to buy Dogecoin and don’t know where to start, you are in the right place. We’ll show you how and where to purchase DOGE with step-by-step instructions.

What Is Dogecoin?

You may have heard people refer to Dogecoin as a meme coin. That’s true: Dogecoin’s founders, Billy Marcus, and Jackson Palmer, were inspired by a meme featuring a Shiba Inu dog and launched Dogecoin primarily as a joke.

The coin became popular due to the hype it received on Reddit after catching the attention of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tweeted about the coin in 2021. Musk’s involvement briefly caused DOGE prices to surge, though the asset lost most of its value soon after.

Dogecoin doesn’t really have a use case: it isn’t a great way to transfer value like stablecoins, as the prices aren’t stable. It has an infinite supply (unlike, for example, Bitcoin), so it doesn’t become less available or more valuable with time. 

There are billions of DOGE on the market, and Dogecoin remains one of the largest crypto coins by market cap, but that doesn’t translate to monetary value.

You can mine the coin at great numbers, making it not so valuable after all. There are occasional brief surges in its price, usually thanks to wayward remarks by celebrities like Musk.

Overall, it is accurate to call it a joke coin.

Where Can I Buy Dogecoin?

You can buy Dogecoin on most crypto exchanges. Doge is the 16th largest crypto by market cap, so it is generally available on popular exchanges.

You can buy DOGE with fiat currencies at centralized crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and eToro.

If you already have crypto, you can also purchase DOGE and other digital assets on decentralized exchanges like SushiSwap or Uniswap. These exchanges facilitate peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries.

While they are often cheaper than centralized exchanges, they may be harder to navigate and aren’t very suitable for beginners. Of course, you can easily learn how to use a decentralized exchange if you dedicate a little time to it.

How to Buy Dogecoin

There are three steps to buying any cryptocurrency, including Dogecoin. First, decide which exchange you want to use. Then, consider where to store your crypto. Once you have made this decision, go ahead and buy DOGE. 

Here is a more detailed approach for absolute beginners:

Choose Your Exchange

Different exchanges offer different features and have varying crypto availability and fees. You can compare some of the most well-known exchanges to see which one suits your needs best before making a decision.

For example, Coinbase and Binance US both offer similar digital assets (including DOGE), but Binance offers lower fees. However, Coinbase is considered more secure and beginner friendly. Do your research before you decide on a platform, as crypto can be a risky investment.

You can check out our exchange review guide for a more comprehensive look at the most popular crypto exchanges.

Buy DOGE

Once you decide on a platform, go ahead and sign up. Most centralized crypto exchanges allow you to purchase crypto with fiat currency (like USD or EUR). You can connect your bank account to the platform and transfer money into your exchange account.

Some exchanges also allow you to buy crypto with credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. If you have an exchange account or other digital assets, you can also trade those assets for DOGE.

Some exchanges will allow you to purchase DOGE directly with fiat, while others may only offer stablecoins like USDT or USDC. In those cases, you must first buy a stablecoin and then trade it for DOGE.

Store Your DOGE

Once you buy DOGE, you must decide where to store it. You have a couple of options for that.

Exchange Wallet

When you buy crypto on an exchange, your assets are automatically stored in the exchange’s wallet. These wallets are known as custodial wallets because the platforms control and manage them.

While you can trade the assets in the wallet through your exchange account, you don’t have complete control over them. If the exchange suffers an attack or goes bankrupt, your assets may be lost forever.

Self-Custody Hot Wallets

There are several self-custody hot wallets in the market: Some of them are software wallets you can download to your mobile devices and computers, and others can be accessed via browsers. They are called hot wallets because they are connected to the internet through your device (computer or mobile device). 

While self-custody wallets allow you to fully control your assets, they are also vulnerable to security breaches and are often targeted by hackers. If you don’t have a lot of know-how on securing internet-connected devices from malware and hacking attempts, you may put your funds at risk by storing them in a hot wallet.

Cold Wallets

Cold wallets are generally considered the most secure storage option for cryptocurrencies. They aren’t internet connected, so they are impervious to hacking attempts. A cold wallet can be a paper wallet or a hardware wallet.

A paper wallet is simply a piece of paper that contains your private key, which allows you to access your funds via a wallet interface. However, paper wallets can be hard to use and aren’t suitable if you wish to trade your assets easily.

Hardware wallets are USB-like devices that store your private keys. Since the device isn’t directly connected to the internet, it can’t be hacked. Trezor and Ledger are two hardware wallet producers considered the best in business. Both companies offer several hardware wallets for storing crypto, though they can be quite expensive.

If you are trading casually with low amounts, purchasing a hardware wallet might be overkill. However, if you prize security, purchasing a hardware wallet is the best choice in the long term.  

Also see How to Buy Dogecoin (DOGE) on:

Coinbase
Kraken
Binance
Bitmart
Bybit
Gate.io
Gemini
Kucoin
MEXC
OKX
Poloniex