One of the rallying cries is for Dogecoin to be spending money while Bitcoin is where you do long term storage. I took this to the test by having a handful of friends send 20 dogecoin (about $7) to me over the course of a week. While on the surface, Dogecoin seems easy to buy, in practice it’s still a bit complex to use. One problem that I kept seeing was the assumption that you could buy X amount of doge on an exchange and send it for 1 doge.

This is generally the case if you’re using a traditional crypto wallet or hardware wallet, and die-hard enthusiasts will always remind you, “not your keys, not your coins.” When you have full control of where your crypto is being stored, it is generally considered safer. This hasn’t stopped a majority of new traders from exclusively using apps to buy, sell, and store their coins.

One common misconception is that apps that let you trade Dogecoin are letting you buy Dogecoin, but that’s not always the case. Robinhood and Webull are instances of trading apps where you’re just betting on the price. There’s no wallet and you can’t send coin out from there (yet).

Most people buy Dogecoin on exchanges. Some, like FTX, don’t have doge fees. But some, like Bittrex, charge 5 doge for you to move it off your account, but it could be any amount of doge. Binance.US is pure highway robbery with a 50 doge withdrawl fee and 100 doge minimum. I found this website super helpful in comparing different exchanges and their cost to move dogecoin.

A goal for many doge enthusiasts is to make doge easy and cheap to use. It’s not helpful when large exchanges charge unreasonable amounts and minimums to move dogecoin. Be very careful when choosing where to trade, and where you keep your coins, and always take transaction fees into consideration when you make a purchase or tip a friend.