‘I just became a dogecoin millionaire’: This 33-year-old invested his savings in the meme cryptocurrency with inspiration from Elon Musk

‘I just became a dogecoin millionaire’: This 33-year-old invested his savings in the meme cryptocurrency with inspiration from Elon Musk

Glauber Contessoto says that on April 15 at 6:00 p.m. PDT, he became a dogecoin millionaire.

"I was up all night staring at my screen," Contessoto, 33, tells CNBC Make It.

After learning about the meme cryptocurrency on Reddit, Contessoto says he invested over $180,000 in dogecoin on Feb. 5, when it was priced at about 4.5 cents.

Contessoto was intrigued by dogecoin for a few reasons.

For one, he loved the Reddit community surrounding the digital coin, as its base had grown substantially since dogecoin's creation as a joke in 2013. He also appreciated that it was inspired by the Shiba Inu "Doge" meme, he says.

And like many holders of dogecoin, "a reason why I put my savings into dogecoin is Elon Musk," who has repeatedly tweeted about the cryptocurrency. Though it's unclear if Musk's tweets in support of the coin have been serious, "I think the guy is a genius," Contessoto says.

Above all, Contessoto is very bullish on dogecoin's growth, and thought that it could help him build "generational wealth" to pass on to his future family. "I grew up really poor," he says, "so this is a huge deal for me."

Contessoto (who works at a music company in Los Angeles) says