• Dogecoin runs on its own blockchain called Dogecoin blockchain
• Elon Musk was the person who made Dogecoin a successful meme token
• Dogecoin is a sponsor of the English Premier League club Watford FC

It was around 2012-2013 when speculations started that cryptocurrencies will grow and challenge traditional financial systems. These speculations were seen as nonsense by two software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer and as a joke, they created their own cryptocurrency which they based on the famous meme Doge and called the new token Dogecoin. At first, this token was taken as a joke as it was intended but also gathered a following around social media. Everything went crazy in mid-2021 when Elon Musk started making a series of tweets around the token and stated that he really liked the coin. This caused people to invest in this token. At first, people were buying it as a joke, but things got out of hand pretty quickly as the Dogecoin price rose by almost 1000% in a span of a month. This crazy time did not last too long and the coin quickly lost most of the gains, but despite that, it still remains one of the biggest cryptocurrencies. Currently, it trades at $0.076 and has 136.9 billion tokens in circulation. This gives Dogecoin a market capitalization of $10.3 billion and places it as the 9th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

When Dogecoin became popular almost all of the exchanges added it to the list of available cryptocurrencies on their platforms. Because of this, you will find Dogecoin on almost every crypto exchange, but just registering on any crypto exchange and purchasing Dogecoin might not be the smartest decision. There are many different factors we need to consider before buying it. What is our goal with the token, what are we prioritizing, where do we reside, and many more. Here we take you through the process of buying Dogecoin for beginners.

Choose crypto exchange

As we mentioned just choosing any exchange will not be the best decision for purchasing Dogecoin. We need to understand what are we going to do with the Dogecoin we are purchasing. This will help us determine which exchange we should prioritize. Some exchanges offer low fees, others might have good staking for dogecoin, some might give utility, and many others. When we choose which exchange factor we prioritize and choose the exchange we will be using, what will be left to do is to open an exchange account. This process is somewhat similar to most exchanges and you can simply do this using your email address.

Passing verification process

When you open your account, regulated exchanges will ask you to verify your identity in order to gain access to exchange features. Every exchange will ask you to provide your residential information and a document that proves your identity. Some exchanges might ask for additional information and documents if they see fit.

Buy Dogecoin

Only after passing verification is when you will be able to purchase Dogecoin. Exchanges will offer different payment options depending on your location. Also, different payment options will have different fees and transaction times. There is also the possibility to deposit other cryptocurrencies if you already have some and then swap that crypto for dogecoin. For this, an exchange of our choice should have trading pair between Dogecoin and the crypto we are depositing or have the swap feature which allows direct swapping of cryptos between each other.

Since there are many different exchanges, as we already mentioned it is important to choose the right one. We discussed what you need to do when it comes to choosing an exchange and buying Dogecoin, but which exchanges are best? Here we will list a few examples of exchanges that are good for specific reasons.

Coinbase - Best exchange to buy Dogecoin for US customers

Coinbase is one of the best and biggest crypto exchanges in the world. When it comes to trading volume and popularity it might not be as popular as Binance, but in the US market, they are the top dog. Coinbase operates from the US and has numerous licenses, they also have different insurance policies in place which protect US customers from different threats. If you are US based trader and wish to acquire Dogecoin this should be your exchange of choice. Let us tell you how you can do that.

Create Coinbase account

Since Coinbase is a regulated exchange, we are required to register our own account in order to access their service. This process is relatively easy as all that is required from you is to provide your email address and a strong password. When you finish the registration process, Coinbase will send you a link to your email address and you will need to activate your account through it. 

Identity verification

Once again since Coinbase is a regulated entity that deals with money transactions, it is required to ask users to pass KYC verification. When doing this verification first you will be asked a few questions centered around your general information. This information will range from residential address to occupation. After that, you will be asked to upload a photo of your ID or Passport, if you are an American citizen you can simply enter your social security number and some additional info without the need to upload document photos.

Buy Dogecoin

When your account is fully verified you will be ready to purchase Dogecoin. For this navigate to the Individuals tab at the top of the menu. There you will see the Buy Crypto option, once there you will be given a list of cryptos where you can select Dogecoin and make a purchase using payment methods available for you.

Binance - Best exchange for trading with Dogecoin

While Coinbase is popular in the US, everywhere else this spot of number one goes to Binance. The reason behind this is the number of different features that is available for traders on Binance. If you are planning on acquiring Dogecoin not for just holding, but wish to trade with it then this exchange should be your final destination. Here alongside spot trading, you can use leverage and increase earnings on your Dogecoin. You are also able to instantly swap Dogecoin for any other token and vice versa without paying any fees. Even if you are looking to hold your tokens, Binance offers staking of Dogecoin but it does not have the highest APYs. 

Register on Binance

Registration on Binance follows the same principle as Coinbase. Here all you need to do is to enter either your email address or mobile number and come up with a password. You will then get a confirmation code on your email address or the phone depending on which you entered. But keep in mind that in the end, you will need to provide both of them in order to gain full access to exchange features.

KYC verification

After the registration, Binance will inform you that you need to pass identity verification in order to remove limitations placed on your account. This verification process is simple and at the first stage, you have to enter information about your residence such as an address, city, and zip code. After that, you just need to take a photo of your ID or another accepted document and upload it. After this, you have to wait up to 24 hours for verification to go through.

Buy Dogecoin

There are multiple ways to buy Dogecoin on Binance. You can simply buy it from the Buy Crypto section and pay with traditional payment methods such as SWIFT, ACH, or Debit Card. In case Dogecoin purchase is not available for the payment method you wish to use and you can purchase a different token with that payment option, then you can simply purchase that token and use Binance Convert to swap purchased crypto for Dogecoin without paying any fees.

Cex.io - Most secure exchange to purchase Dogecoin

If you are someone who values security above anything else, then Cex.io should be your exchange of choice. Founded in 2013 this is one of the oldest exchanges on the market with a reputation of also being one of the most secure. This security status is not just based on security features, for example, Crypto.com uses more advanced security mechanisms. What gives Cex.io this status is that in its 9 years of existence it has never had any issues of being hacked or losing users' funds and this is something that almost no other exchange can brag about. Despite that starting on Cex.io does not differentiate from any other crypto exchange.

Create a personal Cex.io account

When registering on Cex.io you will be directed to the screen where you have to enter your email address, the password you wish to use, and indicate the country you reside in. Once that is done, you will receive an email notification and through that, you will need to confirm your registration.

Verification

Before you start your verification process on Cex.io, first you will be asked to turn on two-factor authentication. For this, you can simply link your phone number to your account. Once you link your phone to the exchange, you will be given the ability to verify your identity. Here just like any other exchange, you will need to provide your residential information. Then you will need to upload a photo of your identification document along with a selfy of you holding this document in one hand and a piece of paper that has Cex.io verification written on it in another hand

Acquire Dogecoin

When we finish up with registration and verification we will be able to purchase the Dogecoin. For this, we need to go to the Instant Buy section which will be available in the drop-down menu at the top left of our screens. There we simply need to select Dogecoin and finalize the purchase. We can also deposit fiat currency from the Deposit section and then purchase Doge from the Spot market.

There is one misconception that most new traders make. It is not always the best decision to store crypto on the exchange you purchased them on. If you are purchasing crypto maybe to trade on an exchange or use it in some form then yes, you should keep it in there. But if you are planning on just holding the tokens and don’t give them any utility it might be the best option to transfer them somewhere else. Here we will give you two examples of where you can store your DOGE tokens.

Dogecoin wallet

If you are looking to store tokens on your personal wallet where you are the one who controls the private key then might as well store it in the official Dogecoin wallet provided by founders. There are two types of wallets that Dogecoin provides, Multidoge and Dogecoin core. Multidoge is more of a light version for newcomers, while Dogecoin downloads the whole blockchain and provides different functions. 

Trezor

If you want full protection with 0 possibilities of someone gaining access to your funds, then you should store your tokens in a hardware wallet. Our suggestion will be the Trezor hardware wallet. Also called cold wallets, these types of wallets come in physical form and are disconnected from the web. The only time tokens appear online is when you plug in your wallet to the computer and transfer funds to a software wallet or exchange.

Investing in Dogecoin might be a good decision considering the growth it has been going through. Dogecoin has been on a resurgence for quite some time now. While it is nowhere close to its peak price, it has been growing for the past few months and ended up ending October and November months on a positive note. This growth might be associated with Elon Musks' acquisition of Twitter and the development of his upcoming platform “Everything App”, with word going around that Dogecoin will be getting some sort of utility inside this platform. Because of this, if you have some money to invest, investing in Dogecoin should be a good decision. But our advice will always be to create a diversified portfolio consisting of multiple cryptocurrencies and other financial instruments.

"That’s why I decided to support Doge — it felt like the people’s crypto.” - Elon Musk