Coinbase, Dogecoin and other basics

Dogecoin (DOGE) is a digital coin that gained a significant amount of popularity in 2021. DOGE is Dogecoin’s symbol (ticker). Despite its uncapped maximum supply and comedic status, Dogecoin has achieved significant price highs and is available on numerous centralized crypto exchanges including Coinbase. 

Coinbase is a public crypto company that has a number of different products under its branding. One such product is a well-known and simple application for buying and selling various cryptocurrencies — the Coinbase app. 

Wondering how to buy Dogecoin on Coinbase, or how to sell Dogecoin on Coinbase? Can you buy Dogecoin on Coinbase? Read on for more information. 

A little about Dogecoin 

Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer created Dogecoin in 2013 as an act of comedy, building the asset based on a popular meme — the one that has grammatically incorrect phrases pasted around a picture of a Shiba Inu dog sitting with proper posture while staring into the camera. 

Dogecoin has no limit on its maximum coin supply with 10,000 new DOGE approximately coming into existence every minute. Therefore, DOGE is an inflationary asset, contrary to Bitcoin (BTC) which has a maximum supply of 21 million coins. 

DOGE and BTC run on their own respective blockchains. DOGE’s blockchain produces a new block roughly every minute, while BTC’s blockchain has about a 10-minute block time. This makes DOGE transactions generally faster than BTC transfers.

Is Dogecoin a good investment? Historically, DOGE has seen enormous price increases. DOGE’s price rose from less than a penny in 2019, all the way up to around $0.74 in 2021, according to Cointelegraph’s DOGE price index linked above. How much is Dogecoin worth? DOGE’s price changes constantly, but the Cointelegraph DOGE price index keeps track of DOGE’s price live and shows Dogecoin’s market cap.  

Judging by history, investors or traders who bought and sold DOGE within that timeline could have potentially made a significant profit. However, numerous factors come into play as far as profit is concerned such as trade timing. 

Billionaire Elon Musk helped bring Dogecoin into the mainstream spotlight with his tweets referencing the coin. Additionally, Dogecoin gained mentions alongside discussion of WallStreetBets, a markets-focused Reddit-based group.  

Preparing to buy and sell Dogecoin

Explaining a little about Coinbase

Wondering where to invest in Dogecoin? Coinbase is one possibility where you can do so. Founded in 2012 and based in the United States, Coinbase is a prominent company in the crypto industry. 

Coinbase went public in 2021 with its stock listing on Nasdaq under the ticker COIN. Coinbase has a number of crypto solutions under its wingspan, such as its Coinbase mobile app, website platform and its Coinbase Pro mobile app and website interface. 

Coinbase and Coinbase Pro are two platforms on which a person can buy and sell Dogecoin. Coinbase’s user interface differs from Coinbase Pro. Coinbase Pro has a trader-centric layout with price charts and order books, while the main Coinbase platform is more simplistic. (The website address for the Coinbase Pro browser-based platform is pro.coinbase.com.) 

Setting up a Coinbase account

Buying or selling Dogecoin on Coinbase requires setting up a Coinbase account. Completing the process on the mobile app looks similar to signing up via the browser page. 

During the process of creating an account, Coinbase guides users through various steps via prompts they must fill out. These prompts typically include various personal details such as name, date of birth, email address and phone number. Users must follow Anti-Money Laundering (AML) information and submit an image of government-issued identification that matches the name used for signing up.

The account creation process and information requirements for such may vary based on a user’s jurisdiction. Still, in general, Coinbase requires a notable amount of information from its customers due to regulatory requirements. Users of some parts of the globe may also be barred from using Coinbase. 

Anyone interested in opening a Coinbase account must be at least 18 years old and agree to certain terms and conditions. Opening an account on Coinbase also generally involves verifying an email address, as well as providing a phone number for initial two-factor authentication (2FA) setup. Users can change their 2FA method to something other than a phone number-based method after account creation, which may be desirable due to sim swapping risks.  

Wondering about Coinbase Pro? A user’s Coinbase account works like a base, with Coinbase Pro as sort of like an extension of Coinbase. For example, clicking the button on the Coinbase Pro browser website redirects users to sign up on the main Coinbase website. 

Funding the account

Establishing a Coinbase account involves linking a method with which to spend or send fiat funds (U.S. dollar, etc.), if fiat funding is desired. Users can also send crypto assets to their Coinbase account.

How do you get Dogecoin on Coinbase Pro? If a user sets up a Coinbase account and sends assets to the main Coinbase platform, he or she must transfer any of their desired funds from that main platform to the Coinbase Pro platform. 

Users can send funds directly to their Coinbase Pro platform from external crypto wallets or banks as well. Fiat and crypto funds can be sent to either the Coinbase platform or the Coinbase Pro platform and transferred between the two. However, the main Coinbase platform has more fiat payment options than Coinbase Pro. Performance on either app should act similarly to the browser experience. 

How to buy Dogecoin on Coinbase

After a user sends funds to his or her Coinbase account, purchasing Dogecoin is relatively simple. Click the “Buy/Sell” button on the top right corner of the main profile page (Coinbase browser platform). 

Click “Buy” and choose Dogecoin from the list (finding Dogecoin might require using the search bar included with the list). Below that box, choose a method of payment. Also make sure to indicate if this buy should be just a single time or a recurring event. 

Choose an amount of money to spend on DOGE, and then click “Preview Buy.” Ensure the details of the purchase are correct, take note of the fee and then click “Buy now.” 

On Coinbase Pro (browser platform), a user interested in buying Dogecoin would find a DOGE asset pairing that is compatible with assets he or she holds on the platform. 

Asset pairings are just that — pairs of assets. A user can buy or sell one asset in the pair in exchange for the other asset listed. For example, a DOGE/USD pair lets users buy and sell DOGE in exchange for USD. 

Click the drop-down menu on the top left corner of the main page and choose the applicable DOGE pairing from the list. Make sure the “Buy” and “Market” settings are selected, type in the desired amount to spend and click “Place buy order.” Fees and the amount of DOGE that will be purchased are shown above the order button. 

Using the “Limit” and “Stop” orders are more complicated. For more information on order types, read Crypto trading basics: A beginner's guide to cryptocurrency order types. 

Be mindful of the fees associated with Coinbase and Coinbase Pro trades. 

How to sell Dogecoin on Coinbase

Selling Dogecoin on Coinbase (browser platform) looks similar to buying the asset. 

Steps to sell DOGECOIN on Coinbase

Dogecoin can also be converted into other digital assets and vice versa via the “Convert” tab, which sits next to the buy and sell tabs. 

On Coinbase Pro (browser interface), the DOGE sale process also functions similarly to the Coinbase Pro purchase process. Click a DOGE pair from the drop-down menu, ensure the “Sell” and “Market” settings are clicked, type in an amount of DOGE to sell and hit “Place sell order.”

Should I buy Dogecoin?

Participating in Dogecoin trading on Coinbase or elsewhere is a choice that will vary from person to person. Everyone should decide for themself whether or not to buy or sell Dogecoin, and on which trading platform. 

People may not agree on what is the best place to buy Dogecoin. Peoples’ desires, goals and preferences all differ, which can make decisions a personal choice in the crypto space. However, it is of high importance to make sure to always comply with any applicable jurisdictional laws.