How to Buy Dogecoin as Meme Cryptocurrency's Price Goes Up

The price of the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin rose by around 20 percent on Sunday after a cryptic tweet by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Users of the token, which was started as a joke in 2013, have rallied behind the coin in the past two days, once again hyping it up with the aim of pushing its price upwards. As of Monday, a single Dogecoin was the equivalent of $0.072.

On Saturday, Dogecoin was priced at around $0.061, but that shot to $0.078 in a matter of 24 hours, according to CoinDesk's real-time price tracker.

The surge came after a tweet from Musk, a known Dogecoin fan, that read "... going to moon very soon." The slogan "to the moon" is used to describe a major cryptocurrency price rally.

Musk did not specify which crypto coin was being referenced in the tweet. Bitcoin, the dominant digital token, also increased in price following Musk's post and breached the $60,000 threshold, nearing its all-time high, for the first time in a month.

Bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $61,500 in mid-March before quickly tumbling back down to $53,200 amid volatility warnings from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who claimed such tokens were "not particularly in use as a means of payment."

Members of the official Dogecoin Reddit community circulated waves of memes as the weekend rally continued, with many urging others to avoid selling tokens while the values were going higher to avoid negatively impacting the price.

One user wrote in a Reddit thread on Sunday: "Don't sell just yet, the value might just be increasing and we could be going even higher, just chill and enjoy the ride." Another user wrote: "Stop selling for the small profits! Let's take this to the moon boys."

Musk has a long history of tweeting about Dogecoin. On April Fool's Day this year, he suggested SpaceX was "going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon."

Dogecoin's creator Billy Markus previously told Newsweek it would be "really cool" if Musk was able to "literally send dogecoin to the moon on one of his rockets." Markus also said: "I think having an ally like Elon Musk is pretty incredible, honestly."

In the wake of Dogecoin's sharp price surge, Markus tweeted on Sunday: "There's no guarantees in the world of crypto, but I wish you all good fortune in your journey."

How to Buy Dogecoin

There are several methods to buy and hold Dogecoin, including via the cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, Kraken and Bittrex. For a step-by-step guide on how to use those platforms check out the full Newsweek guide. This is not financial advice.

A number of apps, including Robinhood and Cash App, let users buy Dogecoin but not to withdraw balances to personal wallets, meaning they can only be used in-app.

Here are the broad series of steps that you will need to purchase the cryptocurrency:

• Choose a "wallet" that can be used to hold the Dogecoin on your computer or phone. The Dogecoin site recommends Multidoge and Dogecoin Core.
• Install and configure the Dogecoin wallet using the relevant setup guide. You will have to wait up to five minutes for the wallet to fully synchronize.
• Buy Dogecoin via a crypto exchange and put them into your wallet. Withdrawing Dogecoins from the dedicated exchange account and into a personal wallet can help reduce the risk of theft if the exchange is compromised or hacked.

Like Bitcoin, users can get Dogecoin by "mining," which uses your computing power to process transactions by other people—and obtaining Dogecoins in return. The official website comes with the disclaimer: "Mining is intended for advanced users only, as it requires a lot of technical knowledge to do." The full guide is published online.