PEPE memecoin: Understanding the viral frog-faced token

The meme culture has effectively invaded the crypto space—manifested through the likes of PEPE and other leading memecoin contenders. 

Memecoins are cryptocurrencies inspired by viral trends or internet memes. Because of this, they are usually created and launched for entertainment purposes rather than financial expectations. This makes them extra risky and volatile crypto assets to invest on. 

PEPE Memecoin

PEPE is one of the top memecoins when it comes to market capitalization, or market cap, currently holding third place in the memecoin list on CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, its market cap is at an impressive $3.81 billion. In fact, it was able to enter the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap just two weeks after its launch, as noted by Forbes. 

Knowing a currency's market cap is important as the metric sheds light on its popularity and dominance. Hence, these figures just show how impressive PEPE has been performing in the competitive landscape. 

Recently, PEPE made history as the first memecoin to be listed in a Japan-based crypto exchange. Available now on BITPoint Japan, PEPE can now be used for lending, spot trading, and saving. 

This integration has made the community optimistic, especially since it may boost the memecoin's global position and attract a wider audience, as noted by Daily Coin. 

🐸 Bitpoint Japan has officially announced the launch of trading for #PEPE, making it the first memecoin to be listed in Japan pic.twitter.com/ljC6HWXetQ

— Limbo Trade (@limbotrade) October 30, 2024

According to its official website, PEPE was designed to be the “most memeable memecoin in existence”. 

The frog-faced memecoin directly shows its source of inspiration: PEPE the Frog. However, while it is inspired by the popular meme, PEPE is not associated with Matt Furie, the creator of the original meme. 

The founders of the memecoin remain anonymous. However, they were still able to maximize social media to boost the project in the crypto space. In fact, according to Crypto.News, the team behind its development stresses that the token is completely useless and totally devoid of function. 

Nevertheless, PEPE appears to boost the market of memecoins through community engagement. 

Coming third among the top memecoins by market cap, PEPE is only outrun by Dogecoin (DOGE)—which Elon Musk frequently mentions on X—and Shiba Inu (SHIB)—which aspires to be a Dogecoin contender. Unlike PEPE's green-themed face, both leading memecoins are inspired by the shiba inu breed. Dogecoin was specifically inspired by the dog Kabosu, who passed away in May. 

While Dogecoin started as a meme, it has boasted of real utility over time, such as charity donations. This makes it starkly different from “totally useless” PEPE. 

Similar differences can be observed between PEPE and Shiba Inu, as the latter was designed with a comprehensive ecosystem in mind. 

Though the two formidable memecoin players have been able to offer utility beyond their memetic nature, PEPE stays true to the entertainment focus of memecoins. It was released without any presale, taxes, or other features that are typically featured for other cryptocurrencies. 

But it is this exact nature that makes PEPE stand out among the rest. With a strong community engagement strategy focused on the frog meme and a zero-tax policy, the PEPE token has distinguished itself in the memecoin market even though it does not offer any actual utility. 

im literally just a meme $PEPE pic.twitter.com/Biol6nVbIr

— Pepe (@pepecoineth) October 6, 2024

Memecoin Explosion

As a memecoin by nature, PEPE is primarily driven by hype and community. It lacks the inherent value for it to be a solid investment. That said, its trajectory will largely be defined by how it maintains its vibe in the competitive memecoin market. 

Recently, analyst Murad Mahmudov, the CIO of Adaptive Capital, proposed the memecoin supercycle theory—which holds that different factors will result in an endless supercycle for memecoins like PEPE. 

memecoin supercycle pic.twitter.com/NnmNC10zEO

— Pepe (@pepecoineth) October 14, 2024

During his talk at TOKEN2049 in Singapore, he mentioned that the term “memecoin” is a misnomer, as it is actually “30% about the meme and 70% about the people.” He further explained that “what memecoins really are, are tokenized communities which use the meme as their symbol, banner, philosophy.” 

This can be likened to what PEPE is all about. 

The analyst also shared in a recent X post that “memecoins [are] growing on both Solana and Ethereum,” adding that “we are in the early stages of the Memecoin supercycle.” 

Memecoins Growing on both Solana and Ethereum

We are in the early stages of the Memecoin Supercycle. pic.twitter.com/a6MlEiVVGz

— Murad 💹🧲 (@MustStopMurad) October 30, 2024

PEPE is just one of the many memecoins that are driving the crypto landscape. As the memecoin market is on an anticipated road to further explosion and domination, it is only a matter of time before PEPE's place in the space is further defined. Whether the memecoin will outlast its competitors or not is a story that is yet to unravel.