We got the Tesla chief out Friday night at BOA in WeHo ... where he was signing a slew of autographs and posing for pics, masked up. Man, it's been a while since we've seen this.

Anyway, we got to talking to him about the new cryptocurrency that's all the rage these days -- Dogecoin, which Elon and other celebs have been propping up lately ... this as traders (both amateur and otherwise) have been praying for it to go "to the moon."

Elon tweeted Doge is the "people's crypto" and he doubled down with us -- saying that the will of the people will determine its worth, and that he's down to give it some exposure if it facilitates Doge's growth to that end. BTW, Dogecoin has risen by some 600% since last year ... it was once trading at well below a penny -- and it's gotten as high as 8 cents of late.

So, yes ... it could very well be the next Bitcoin -- which is worth $40k these days -- but Elon does note the fact that Doge doesn't have a cap or finite limit hurts it in the long run.

He also gives some great advice to new investors looking to get into the crypto game -- and it basically amounts to this ... sure, roll the dice ... but not all your dice. Watch for yourself.

One last thing -- Elon tells us crypto appears to be where money's headed, but the question still remains ... which one will come out on top??? He vouches for Dogecoin as having a shot at being top ... well, dog. What started out as a meme/joke could be your next bank.