Dogecoin continues to trade near record highs above $0.41 as fans hail 'Doge Day' after 670% monthly rise

Dogecoin was started as a joke in 2013.

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• Dogecoin continued to trade near record highs of $0.41 Tuesday morning, after a 670% gain in April.
• Supporters of the meme coin were celebrating April 20 as 'Doge Day' online after the stellar rally.
• Yet many analysts have predicting that buyers will get burned by a sharp drop in the cryptocurrency.
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Dogecoin continued to trade around record highs on Tuesday, as supporters of the meme cryptocurrency pushed for April 20 to become 'Doge Day' after an astounding rally.

The digital coin, started in 2013 as a joke, was up 8.9% in the 24 hours to 5 a.m. ET to $0.41317, according to CoinGecko. That was slightly off the all-time high of $0.41888 touched on Monday.

Dogecoin has rallied remarkably in April, rising roughly 670% after starting the month at around $0.053. Its 1-year return stood at close to 20,000% on Tuesday.

The cryptocurrency's rise seems even more outstanding when compared to bitcoin and ether, both of which have tumbled in recent days, as a bout of buying in the wake of the Coinbase IPO has died down.

Bitcoin was down around 2% to roughly $55,200 on Tuesday, off recent highs of close to $65,000. Ether was trading at around $2,150, down from highs of above $2,500.

Online fans of Dogecoin, which is based on the meme of a Shibu-Ina dog, were celebrating April 20 as 'Doge Day'.

Many hoped the cryptocurrency could break $1 and enthusiastically voiced their support online. Many tweeted weed-based Doge memes, in a reference to the date's significance in weed culture.

Even major companies such as Snickers were getting involved. Its account tweeted: "Guess what day it is? #DogeDay. Tomorrow? #DogeDay420."

The Dogecoin rally has bemused market analysts, with many saying the cryptocurrency is a purely speculative asset with next to no use value.

"It's moved by headlines, tweets, celebrity, or corporate endorsements and while that's likely belittled by traditional investors, it's what brings the masses to cryptocurrencies," Michael Kamerman, CEO of trading platform Skilling, said.

Nigel Green, chief executive of the deVere Group financial consultancy, said: "We can expect many novice retail investors... to get burned in the Dogecoin frenzy - in the same way they did with the GameStop one."

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