PEPE has taken the crypto world by storm as the frog-themed token continues to defy all expectations – and gloomy outlooks – to the point that it managed to more than double its value in the past 30 days.
At the time of writing, the price of PEPE stands at $0.00001672, resulting in a 6% 24-hour gain and an eye-popping 77.7% increase in the past 7 days according to data from CoinMarketCap. This rally has been incredibly impressive, given how long PEPE’s price has consistently risen.
Just a month ago, PEPE was trading at $0.000007047, and it has since risen a whopping 141.2%. Anyone who has held PEPE for the last few months (assuming they didn’t get scammed or sandwich attacked) has absolutely cashed in.
PEPE sits comfortably as the 3rd largest meme coin in the world, with a market cap that more than doubles the market cap of its closest competitor, dogwifhat (WIF). However, it is still standing far behind the number two token on the list – Shiba Inu (SHIB).
Despite the perceived foolishness of pouring thousands of dollars into a cryptocurrency that has no fundamentals, real-world utility, or produces any kind of cash flow, the stellar returns generated by PEPE this year have made a few millionaires along the way.
Can this remarkable growth story continue or is the bubble poised to explode at some point? Let’s have a look at some of the factors that keep pushing the boundaries of logic and financial common sense to understand why PEPE is so valuable right now.
What is Pushing PEPE to New Heights Every Week?
So what’s behind the meme coin madness? Analysts point to several key factors driving PEPE’s ascent:
- Whale Accumulation
Whale activity has been a significant catalyst for PEPE’s rally. Recently, a crypto whale withdrew a staggering 500 billion PEPE tokens worth nearly $8 million from Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
This mounting accumulation of PEPE tokens in cold storage is seen as a vote of confidence from its largest investors and suggests that they anticipate further price increases.
Investors typically get cryptocurrencies out of exchanges for security purposes but also when they intend to hold them for long periods. Outside of an exchange, it is much more difficult to exchange these assets.
- Negative Exchange Flows
Over the past two weeks, PEPE’s net exchange flow has been negative, indicating that the volume of tokens flowing out of crypto exchanges is exceeding the amount that is coming in. This trend reduces selling pressure on trading platforms and allows the price to climb higher as supply shrinks.
- The Altcoin Season Effect
PEPE’s rise coincides with the anticipated arrival of “altcoin season” – a period following a Bitcoin (BTC) halving event when alternative cryptocurrencies historically experience their most substantial gains. If this pattern unfolds as expected, PEPE’s position as a prominent altcoin could continue to propel its price upward.
Making Sense of the Meme Coin Hype
PEPE’s success is emblematic of the broader frenzy surrounding meme coins, which have captured the imagination of retail investors worldwide as it is considered a “fast path to riches.”
Despite lacking real-world utility or cash flows, these tokens have experienced astonishing price appreciation in the first few months of the year, largely driven by hype and speculative fervor.
Over the past week, PEPE has not been the only meme coin to surge. Tokens like Mog Coin (MOG), Turbo (TURBO), Bonk (BONK), and Brett (BRETT), have all delivered mid-to-high double-digit gains to investors.
The market cap of meme coins, as tracked by CoinMarketCap, has been steadily surging to its current level of $64.83 billion while daily trading volumes are nearing $10 billion.
Politically-Themed Tokens Rise Alongside PEPE
PEPE’s ascent has also been influenced by a broader bullish sentiment in the crypto market that has been partially fueled by major regulatory developments in the United States.
The SEC’s approval of a spot Ethereum ETF last week and the passage of a key crypto bill recently have been interpreted by experts as major signals that the space will enjoy a more favorable regulatory environment that could catalyze the valuation of top digital assets.
One interesting corner of the meme coin space that has also benefitted from this bullish sentiment is the so-called “PolitiFi” segment, which includes tokens that depict parodies of well-known politicians and their ideals.
The leading token in this area is $MAGA, named after Donald Trump’s well-known “Make America Great Again” slogan. In the last week, the price of MAGA surged by 54% to $12.01, and its market cap has surpassed half a billion. Jeo Boden ($BODEN) and Doland Tremp ($TREMP) are also strong players, using clever political satire to make fun of the less popular candidates in the 2024 US presidential race.
Can PEPE Maintain Its Momentum?
While the PEPE frenzy seems to show no signs of cooling down, some analysts are urging investors to proceed with caution, citing technical indicators that suggest that the rally may be reaching a tipping point.
Both the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Money Flow Index (MFI) point to PEPE being overbought – a condition that typically precedes a price correction as traders take profits from the most recent uptick.
Additionally, even with the negative exchange flows, Santiment data shows a rise in PEPE’s supply on exchanges. This suggests that investors might be taking the chance to sell at these higher prices, but it also indicates that new funds are entering the token, which could balance out the gains from these sales.
Meanwhile, analysts at NewsBTC warn that the selling pressure could trigger an initial price drop to $0.0000122 before finding support and potentially initiating another bull run upon analyzing PEPE’s latest price action.
However, they caution that a deeper correction could send PEPE plummeting to $0.000010 or even lower.
Dogecoin’s Ability to Outlive Bearish Cycles Remains a Testament to the Strength of Meme Coins
As the PEPE frenzy rages on, investors and analysts alike are grappling with the question: Is this the start of a new era for meme coins or merely a fleeting speculative bubble?
Bulls point to the growing mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, the potential impact of favorable regulations, and the sheer momentum of the current rally as reasons to believe that PEPE’s ascent could be sustainable in the long run.
Some analysts even predict that PEPE’s market cap could eventually soar to the point of nearing the levels seen by more well-established tokens like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (INU).
However, the usual critics remain unconvinced about how long or how far the rally can go considering the lack of fundamentals, real-world value, and cash flows of the token.
In any case, it has been years already since DOGE managed to push the boundaries of financial wisdom and defied even the most stringent criticism and outrage. Still, more than four years after the pandemic and roughly three years after the GME and AMC meme coin craze, DOGE enjoys a market cap of $24.9 billion.
If meme coins are mere fads, they have withstood the passage of time much better than a few publicly-traded companies. In any case, as investors believe that they can make a killing by buying and “HODLing” these assets, their valuation will likely outlive the criticism.
Regardless of who is right in predicting the future of the meme coin space, one thing is clear: PEPE’s meteoric rise has firmly established it as a force to be reckoned in the crypto world. The frog-themed asset has captured the attention of thousands if not millions already.