How to Buy Dogecoin (DOGE) – A Beginner’s Guide
By: Ofir Beigel | Last updated: 11/13/19
Dogecoin is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies around. While it started out as a joke it quickly gained a lot of traction and a loyal community. In this post I’ll explain a bit about what Dogecoin is and how you can buy it online.
How to Buy Dogecoin Summary
Here’s how to buy Dogecoin:
- Get a Dogecoin wallet (Ledger, Coinomi)
- Locate your Dogecoin address
- Find a Doge exchange (Kraken)
- Deposit Bitcoin into the exchange
- Exchange Bitcoin for Doge
- Withdraw your Doge
If Kraken doesn’t work out for you, here are some additional buying options:
That’s how to buy Dogecoin in a nutshell. If you want a more detailed explanation about Dogecoin and how to buy it keep on reading, here’s what I’ll cover:
1. What is Dogecoin?
Dogecoin was created in December 2013 by Billy Markus, a programmer from Portland, Oregon. Initially introduced as a joke cryptocurrency, Dogecoin (DOGE) gained a large online following and is now a very popular cryptocurrency. It is also well known for its meme-inspired logo of a Shiba Inu dog.
The original plan was to limit Dogecoin to 100 billion coins. However, it was later decided that there would be a limitless supply of Dogecoins.
One of the greatest strengths of Dogecoin lies in its passionate community, who have done a great deal of fundraising. Notably, supporters raised money to send the Jamaican bobsled team to the Sochi Winter Olympics as well as to sponsor NASCAR driver Josh Wise.
Dogecoin is also used as a form of tipping by the community on platforms such as Reddit and Twitter.
2. Buying Dogecoin in 3 simple steps
Step 1 – Get a Dogecoin Wallet
There’s no shortage of options when it comes to Dogecoin wallets. There are different types of wallets for you to consider, and each wallet can vary in terms of features, usability, and security.
Here are the most popular Doge wallets around:
Dogecoin Hardware Wallets
While being one of the safest wallet types available, a hardware wallet does require an initial investment. For comparison, software wallets are almost always free. The reason hardware wallets are considered safe is because they keep the private key to your Doge offline on a physical device.
The Ledger Nano S and the Nano X are very popular choices which support not only Dogecoin but over 1000 different crypto assets, you can read my review about them here. Likewise, the TREZOR One and TREZOR Model T are good options as well (here’s my review).
Dogecoin Desktop Wallets
A desktop wallet will store the private key to your Doge on your hard drive. These wallets might be vulnerable to malware, so be sure to take the necessary precautions and only download official or highly recommended wallets.
You can choose a Doge-specific desktop wallet such as MultiDoge. This is a light wallet available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Alternatively, you could use a multi-currency wallet such as Coinomi, which is also available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can read my complete review of Coinomi here.
Hardcore Dogecoiners can also download the full client for Dogecoin on the official site, however, this is not recommended for beginners (or if you don’t know what a full client is).
Dogecoin Mobile Wallet
The chance to check your Dogecoin balance on the go on Android or iOS devices is a big plus. For Android, there’s the official Dogecoin Mobile Wallet, which generally has favorable reviews from users. Unfortunately, there’s no such version for iOS.
Coinomi, which I’ve mentioned before also offers a mobile wallet available for both Android and iOS.
Locate your Doge address
Once you have your Dogecoin wallet it’s time to get your Dogecoin address. A Dogecoin address is a long string of letters and numbers that starts with a capital D followed by a number or another capital letter. Here’s an example:
DBXu2kgc3xtvCUWFcxFE3r9hEYgmuaaCyD
Step 2 -Find a Doge Exchange
Surprisingly enough, Dogecoin doesn’t receive much support when it comes to finding a reputable exchange to purchase it on. Only a handful of vetted exchanges supply a DOGE/BTC option.
Here are the most reputable exchanges that allow you to buy Doge:
Buy Dogecoin through Changelly
Changelly is one of the few places that will allow you to buy Dogecoin with almost any currency (fiat or crypto). Changelly is a conversion service that works relatively quick and doesn’t require anything more than an email to sign up. The downside is that it can take up a lot in fees (especially if you buy Doge with your credit card).
You can read my Changelly review here.
Buy Dogecoin through Kraken
Kraken, Founded in 2011, the US exchange has a DOGE/BTC trading pair. This means you’ll either have to deposit BTC or buy BTC with fiat through Kraken and then exchange it to Doge. The exchange offers a wide range of deposit methods, and users in Europe can benefit from the fast and free SEPA deposits.
You can read my complete Kraken review here.
Buy Dogecoin through Bittrex
Bittrex is a US based cryptocurrency exchange that has grown in popularity in recent years. It offers a DOGE/BTC pair similar to Kraken. This means that you will need to either buy Bitcoin or deposit Bitcoin in order to exchange it for Doge. You can read my full Bittrex review here.
How to Buy Dogecoin with a Credit Card
While it’s not possible to buy Dogecoin directly with a credit or debit card, what you can do is buy another cryptocurrency with this payment method and trade it for Dogecoin via Changelly.
For example, CEX.IO, and Coinmama all accept credit and debit cards. This means that you can buy BTC, ETH, or LTC and simply send it to Changelly or another cryptocurrency exchange for trading to Dogecoin.
How to Buy Dogecoin with PayPal
There are very few cryptocurrency exchanges that accept PayPal payments. For this reason, there are no options when it comes to buying Dogecoin with PayPal. However, you can use LocalBitcoins, which let you use PayPal to buy Bitcoin. Then you can transfer the Bitcoin to Changelly and trade it for Dogecoin.
Additional buying options
A number of smaller cryptocurrency exchanges, Exrates, YoBit, and Livecoin, all have DOGE/USD pairs. LiteBit.eu and Bittylicious and Cryptomate offer brokerage services for Dogecoin via EUR or GBP.
Remember, it’s always worth checking out reviews of cryptocurrency exchanges before signing up and buying.
Step 3 – Withdraw your Dogecoin
It’s always sensible to store your cryptocurrency in a wallet rather than on an exchange. This reduces the risk of your cryptocurrency being lost or stolen.
So don’t forget to withdraw the Doge you’ve bought out of the exchange and into your own wallet using the address you got in step 1. If you keep your Dogecoins on the exchange, you’ve basically given up the control of the coins—if the exchange gets hacked or goes bankrupt, you may end up losing them.
3. Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dogecoin on Coinbase?
No, Dogecoin is not listed on Coinbase.
Can I Mine Dogecoin?
Yes you can mine Dogecoin. Like Bitcoin, Dogecoin has a blockchain that’s maintained by a mining system. The key difference is that Dogecoin uses Scrypt, a different mining algorithm than Bitcoin’s SHA-256. Originally, the Scrypt algorithm was designed to be ASIC-resistant, however by now ASIC manufacturers found a way around that, so it is only profitable nowadays to mine Dogecoin with ASIC miners.
How do I Convert Bitcoin to Dogecoin?
You can use Bittrex or Kraken to exchange BTC to Doge.
4. Conclusion
Dogecoin is an established cryptocurrency that has been around since 2013. It has a passionate community that enjoys fundraising and using Dogecoin to tip other users on Reddit and Twitter.
While this cryptocurrency doesn’t have any significant advantage over other coins, the adoption it mustered throughout the years makes it seem like it’s here to stay.
Have you used any of the above wallets or exchanges? What do you think of Dogecoin? Let me know in the comments below!
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I used changenow to buy a doge recently. No registration, which is very convenient, I received coins without any problems. As for coinmama, this is not the most reliable option, I had problems using this service. However, you can use changelly, but changenow is a more reliable option, considering the best rate.