'Meme cryptocurrency' Dogecoin touched its highest ever value on Friday following a cryptic tweet by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Musk on Thursday shared a painting of a Spanish artist through his official Twitter handle, except, he changed the title of the artwork.

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The billionaire changed the original title of the 1926 painting "Dog Barking At The Moon" to "Doge barking at the moon", referring to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. This was enough to take the value of Dogecoin to all-time high.

Doge Barking at the Moon pic.twitter.com/QFB81D7zOL

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2021

Dogecoin appears to be one of social media's favourite topics as it has been trending for a while now, mostly due to Musk's continuous tweets about it.

In 24 hours to Friday morning, Dogecoin jumped 112.89 percent, as per Coinbase, with the value of the cryptocurrency rising to $0.29, around 30 cents. This came just two days after it hit the milestone of 10 cents on April 14.

About Dogecoin and the sharp surge in its price

Launched in 2013, Dogecoin was initially created as a joke by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer and was never meant to be a successful cryptocurrency. Its creation was inspired by a trending dog meme, and hence was used and traded for a long time as a joke.

The cryptocurrency has recently emerged as one of the favourites of tech giants, social media influencers, and bigwigs across industries. Musk, who is seen as one of the most ardent supporters of Dogecoin, tweeted on February 4, 2021, "Dogecoin is the people's crypto." The tweet sent its value higher by 75%.

Dogecoin is the people’s crypto

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2021

Dogecoin can be exchanged for goods and services at platforms where it is accepted. It can also be traded for fiat currencies like the US dollar. The value of Dogecoin is volatile like other cryptocurrencies as it is not backed by any government.

The current market capitalisation of Dogecoin is about $16.9 billion. .

The rise in its value is mainly attributed to its profitability and the long-running online funny chatter around it.

How to buy Dogecoin?

Cryptocurrency exchange platforms provide the most convenient ways to buy Dogecoin. You can make the purchase on Coinbase, Robinhood, and Kraken, among other such platforms. To buy Dogecoin on these platforms, you will need to download a cryptocurrency wallet. That can be done on the platform's official website.

For those who want to buy Dogecoin in small quantities, faucets — websites that dole out tiny amounts of free cryptocurrency to visitors — can be a good option.

On these websites, one can earn Dogecoins every 3 hours (or so) just by clicking a button and completing a captcha code.

Besides, you can also mine a Dogecoin. If you are an advanced user and have a powerful computer setup, you can process other Dogecoin transactions and get these coins as payments.

First Published:Apr 16, 2021 3:00 PM IST