Online searches for 'buy dogecoin’ soared by 392 per cent after Twitter agreed to be acquired by Elon Musk last week in a deal worth approximately US$44 billion.

Analysis of worldwide Google searches commissioned by CryptoWallet.com identified a surge of interest in buying the meme coin on 25 April, the date the deal was announced, to nearly four times the usual daily levels.

“Not only is Elon Musk the richest person in the world, he is also one of the most outspoken endorsers of dogecoin, with single tweets and comments from Musk sparking a surge in the cryptocurrency's price,” a CryptoWallet.com spokesperson said.

The firm said that the price of dogecoin jumped 17 per cent immediately following the takeover announcement.

Additionally, searches for ‘how to buy dogecoin’ surged by 301 per cent while searches for ‘what is dogecoin’ increased by 237 per cent.

“These findings offer a fascinating insight into the influence and power that Elon Musk has, not only on mainstream social media platforms, but also in the world of cryptocurrency,” the spokesperson added.

Tesla announced late last year that it had started accepting dogecoin for payment of certain merchandise products on a test basis.

A recent survey conducted by eToro found that 10 per cent of respondents believed dogecoin presented the best investment buying opportunity, ranking fourth behind bitcoin (39 per cent), ether (19 per cent) and litecoin (11 per cent).

More than one million Aussies are now believed to be invested in crypto according to Roy Morgan.

“Investing in cryptocurrencies is a novelty for many Australians and as our latest research shows only around 1 in 20 Australians currently hold a cryptocurrency investment,” Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine said last month.

“This small penetration of cryptocurrency investors shows there is still the potential for huge growth in the market over the next few years as more Australians become exposed to this form of investing.”