A beginner’s guide to buying and selling DOGE in Indonesia.
Dogecoin (DOGE) is a decentralised, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency similar to bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC). Though it started out as a joke, Dogecoin has grown into one of the most widely traded cryptocurrencies in the world and, at the time of writing, has a market capitalisation in excess of US$637 million.
This guide takes a closer look at how DOGE works and the best ways to buy and store DOGE in Indonesia.
Where to buy DOGE in Indonesia
You can buy DOGE on a wide variety of popular cryptocurrency exchanges, including:
A step-by-step guide to buying DOGE
If you want to buy DOGE, here’s an example of how you can do it:
Step 1. Register for an account with an exchange that allows you to buy DOGE
The first step is to search for an exchange that lists DOGE in one or more currency pairings. Once you’ve found a suitable exchange, you can sign up for an account by providing your email address and creating a password.
Many exchanges will require you to provide your full name, contact information and proof of ID before allowing you to trade, while we also suggest enabling two-factor authentication on your account for extra security.
Step 2. Deposit funds into your account
Most crypto exchanges don’t allow you to directly exchange fiat currency or your Indonesian rupiah (IDR) for DOGE. This means you’ll first need to acquire a cryptocurrency that’s listed in a pairing with DOGE, such as Ether (ETH) or bitcoin (BTC), and then trade it for DOGE.
Step 3. Buy DOGE
The final step is to navigate to the markets section on your chosen exchange and then look for your desired DOGE pairing. Click on “Buy DOGE” and then type in the amount of IDR you want to spend or the amount of DOGE you want to buy.
Make sure to carefully review all transaction details, including the amount of DOGE you’re buying and the total cost of the purchase, before completing the transaction.
How to sell DOGE
If you want to sell your DOGE holdings, you can do so by following a similar process to that outlined in Step 3. You’ll obviously need to look for the “Sell DOGE” link, while it’s also worth remembering that you may not be able to directly exchange DOGE for the currency you want to acquire.
Which wallets can I use to hold DOGE?
Unless you’re looking to place a trade, storing cryptocurrency in an account on an exchange is not recommended. Instead, it’s generally much safer to store your DOGE in a secure wallet.
The official Dogecoin wallet for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems is available for download from the Dogecoin website, while there’s an Android mobile wallet available as well.
There are also several other online and desktop wallets that support DOGE, or you may wish to use a hardware wallet such as the Ledger Nano S.
How DOGE works
Founded in 2013 by Australian Jackson Palmer and IBM software developer Billy Markus, Dogecoin started life as a joke. In a January 2018 article in the Sydney Morning Herald, Palmer explains that the idea for Dogecoin started from a light-hearted tweet criticising the rapid rise of “scammy” altcoins at the time. Dogecoin takes its name from the immensely popular (in 2013) viral “doge” memes. Its mascot, which features heavily on the Dogecoin website, is a Shiba Inu.
However, behind all the fun and games of Dogecoin lies a very popular cryptocurrency. Designed to offer fast and affordable online transactions, this open-source digital currency can be used as a form of payment for goods and services, traded for other currencies, and is also commonly used to “tip” other Internet users who create or share popular content.
Based on the LuckyCoin protocol, a fork of Litecoin, Dogecoin uses the Scrypt encryption algorithm. Dogecoin was instantly popular in the crypto community and within two months of its launch, it had a market capitalisation of US$74 million. DOGE’s value has experienced several rises and falls since then, most recently in January 2018 when it reached a market cap of more than US$2 billion and a price of US$0.017359.
Find out more about Dogecoin in our complete guide.
Key things to consider if you’re thinking about buying DOGE
All cryptocurrencies are complicated and highly speculative, and there are many factors that can affect their value. It’s essential to be fully aware of all the risks associated with cryptocurrencies before making a purchase.
If you’re thinking of buying any Dogecoin, make sure you consider the following factors first:
- Supply. At the time of writing (13/02/2018), CoinMarketCap listed the circulating supply of Dogecoin as 113,174,969,242 DOGE. There is no maximum supply of Dogecoin as there is no set limit on the number of coins produced.
- Availability. One of the key factors that affects the popularity of a cryptocurrency is its availability. Dogecoin is listed on a wide range of cryptocurrency exchanges, making it relatively accessible in comparison to more obscure coins for anyone thinking of buying.
- Community support. Dogecoin is something of a legend in cryptocurrency circles and is supported by a vibrant and active community, as shown by its active Reddit page. This support has seen Dogecoin survive since 2013, which is a very long time in the world of digital currency.
- Joke or not? Dogecoin started life as a joke and a quick visit to the coin’s website is enough to reveal that this currency doesn’t take itself too seriously. This has been a key factor in its survival and success. However, if you’re looking for a coin to buy and hold in the hope of achieving long-term profits, you’ll need to consider whether DOGE fits with your cryptocurrency strategy.
- Future development. As for what the future may hold for Dogecoin, it’s worth considering what the coin’s co-founder Jackson Palmer said in an interview with CoinDesk in March 2017: “New features aren’t being implemented into Dogecoin because there’s no active development anymore. Eventually, it will become outdated. And with that, the network will organically wind down.” Palmer left the Dogecoin team in 2015, but this does raise important questions about the longevity of the currency.
By researching all the important information you can find about Dogecoin and considering the above factors, you’ll be in a much better position to decide whether or not to buy DOGE.