Dogecoin Back Above 0.10 USD for the First Time Since June: Why Whales Bought 240 Million Coins Before the Rally

Dogecoin has clawed its way back above the 0.10 USD mark for the first time since early June, capping a roughly 25 percent weekly gain — but the momentum behind the move is already cooling, and the meme coin now faces its most important test of the quarter: proving that 0.10 is support, not a ceiling.

By Jennifer Kim | September 24, 2026

The rally matters well beyond Dogecoin itself. When the original meme coin jumps a quarter of its value in a week, it usually signals that speculative appetite — the fuel that drives the wider altcoin market — is returning. For context, Bitcoin trades around 84,239 USD and Ethereum near 2,671 USD after both pulled back in the last 24 hours, which makes Dogecoin’s standalone strength even more notable. If DOGE keeps its gains while the majors cool, traders often read that as a green light for smaller coins.

The Rally in Numbers

According to CoinGecko data cited by crypto.news, DOGE traded near 0.10 USD on Sept. 23, up around 1 percent over 24 hours and about 25.2 percent over the past week. The recovery began from roughly 0.080 USD on Sept. 15, moved through 0.087 USD during the weekend, and reached the 0.10 area on Sept. 21-22 — a nearly 25 percent climb in less than seven days.

• Price — near 0.10 USD, a three-month high, with a seven-day range of roughly 0.0784 to 0.1056 USD
• Market cap — approximately 15.6 billion USD
• Spot volume — around 1.8 billion USD over 24 hours
• Futures open interest — about 1.64 billion USD, per CoinGlass
• Futures turnover — roughly 3.05 billion USD over 24 hours, several times spot activity

That last pair of numbers deserves a plain-English translation. Open interest measures how many leveraged bets — think borrowed money — are sitting open on exchanges. When futures turnover runs several times above spot volume, it means most of the trading action is speculation on price direction rather than people actually buying and holding coins. That cuts both ways: leverage can accelerate a breakout, but it can also turn a small dip into a sharp flush of forced selling.

Whales Bought the Dip — 240 Million Coins Deep

One of the more compelling threads behind the rally: large holders were quietly loading up while smaller traders were selling. On-chain data shared by analyst Ali Martinez showed whale wallets accumulating more than 240 million DOGE during the September correction, when price slid from around 0.091 USD toward 0.081 USD between Sept. 9 and Sept. 14. Holdings attributed to that cohort rose toward 19 billion DOGE.

Picture a handful of the biggest accounts at a bank quietly withdrawing cash while everyone else panics — then the price recovering days later. That is essentially what the on-chain record shows. The usual caveats apply: whales can hedge with derivatives or distribute later, so accumulation alone does not guarantee further gains. But it does show conviction from the wallets with the deepest pockets in the Dogecoin market.

The Technical Picture: Momentum Is Fading

Here is where the story gets cautious. Crypto.news reports that DOGE now trades slightly below its nine-period moving average at 0.10185 USD and its 21-period average at 0.10088 USD. Those two lines are short-term trend gauges — think of them as the crowd’s recent average purchase prices on the intraday chart. Falling beneath both suggests immediate buying pressure has weakened after the sharp advance.

The Relative Strength Index, a momentum meter that ranges from 0 to 100, has cooled to 48.40 after spending time in overbought territory above 70 during the rally. A reading near 50 is neutral — neither panic nor euphoria. Reclaiming 0.10088 USD and 0.10185 USD would put DOGE back above its short-term trend gauges; continued trading beneath them hands sellers the near-term advantage.

What Analysts Are Watching Next

Traders have laid out two very different maps. Analyst Cyriptoman4 suggested a decisive hold above 0.10 USD could open a path toward 0.1175 USD and then 0.15 USD. BSC Gems Alert described a developing higher-low structure pressing against the upper boundary of a longer descending pattern, with a break and hold above 0.22 USD — more than double the current price — needed to validate the bigger bullish setup.

On the far end of the spectrum, some analysts have floated targets of 1 USD to 3 USD. Treat those with heavy skepticism: reaching 1 USD would require roughly a tenfold gain from current levels, and no timetable or confirmed technical structure supports it today. Social media price targets are opinions, not analysis.

There is also a mixed institutional signal. According to earlier crypto.news reporting, Bitwise plans to close its Dogecoin ETF (ticker BWOW) after roughly ten months of trading, with a final trading day expected Oct. 14 and shareholder cash-outs based on the Oct. 21 net asset value. The fund held only about 722,000 USD in assets as of Sept. 8 — a rounding error by ETF standards. In other words, U.S. regulated wrappers have not caught the same fire as the spot rally.

What This Means For You

For regular investors, the setup boils down to one question: does 0.10 hold? Holding it keeps the rally structure intact and puts 0.1056 USD — the recent seven-day high — as the first barrier to clear. Losing it likely means a retest of the mid-0.09 area and puts leveraged long positions at risk of liquidation, a cascade that can deepen dips quickly.

If you already own DOGE, the whale accumulation and rising open interest are reasons for patience rather than panic. If you are considering a purchase, waiting for the 0.10 level to prove itself as support — or watching for a reclaim of the short-term averages near 0.101 — is the more disciplined approach. Chasing a 25 percent weekly move with borrowed money is how retail traders become the exit liquidity for whales.

The Verdict

Dogecoin’s return to 0.10 USD is a genuine milestone — a three-month high backed by whale buying and heavy derivatives activity. But momentum indicators have rolled over, price sits just under its short-term averages, and a Bitwise ETF is heading for the exits. The honest read: the rally is real, the follow-through is unproven. The next few sessions above or below 0.10 USD will tell the story.

The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.