There are an estimated 13,217 cryptocurrencies in existence. When discounting the ones that are no longer active or that have no value, the market is left with roughly 8,985 digital assets. While the number is somewhat reduced, it is still considerable for a class of tradable products that is still relatively new compared to its peers. Yet, approximately 420 million people across the globe use cryptocurrencies. Within the larger category of cryptocurrencies, there’s the smaller category of meme coins, a group that originated from Internet culture and is typically humorous.
One of the most well-known representatives of this category is the PEPE coin, an asset inspired by a comic character created by cartoonist Matt Furie, which has become an Internet meme used across a wide range of platforms, including Reddit and Twitch. Although it is nowhere near as popular as Bitcoin or Ethereum, an increasing number of investors are looking into the latest pepe coin price prediction figures in order to make better decisions when it comes to their portfolios. But what exactly is PEPE, and what does its most recent rally mean for the world of meme coins?
The beginning
The rise of new trends and the start of a sudden price rally are nothing new for the crypto environment, but the ones that took place in November 2024 are noteworthy even in this constantly changing and evolving ecosystem. Although the marketplace has been largely stagnant throughout this year, the fourth quarter has signaled the beginning of a new era for the crypto space. The last few months of the year have always been a good time for cryptocurrencies, but the growth recorded this year has surprised even the more seasoned traders.
PEPE is an ERC-20 token that was originally released on April 17th, 2023. Its aim was to follow in the footsteps of predecessors such as Doge and Shiba Inu, and indeed, PEPE achieved popularity quite quickly, rising to prominence in the next few days and achieving $1 billion in market capitalization rates. After reaching the $1.5 billion milestone in this area, PEPE has become the center of profit-taking by investors, a situation in which traders cash out gains in an asset that has been rallying since the time of its purchase.
PEPE is one of the most noteworthy examples of how a crypto community can rally behind a cultural trend, even if the economic fundamentals of a particular holding are subpar when considered objectively against their peers. This is part of the fundamental nature of cryptocurrencies, and investors know that these trends can come and go very quickly and that it is imperative to make the most of them while they last.
Retaining value
When it comes to meme coins, a lot of investors are wondering about their ability to actually retain their value over a longer time. Since they trade for much smaller prices than standard cryptocurrencies, many believe there’s no way for these coins to hold onto their gains. PEPE’s recent surges in both price and popularity as a result of the latest rally taking the crypto world by storm and its integration as a tradeable asset into several exchanges is a very comprehensive case study into how meme coins have the potential ability to not only build but also retain value. The appeal this asset has for the meme culture on social media has allowed an increasing number of investors to start apeing into it, a concept that involves the buying of tokens right after the launch and in the absence of conducting any sort of research beforehand.
Active community members have contributed to the growing awareness of and interest in PEPE, meaning that potential new investors arrived constantly. The cultural aspect is the main reason meme coins retain any value in the first place. There is currently no commercial use case for any of them, and in order to take the first step in that direction, the ecosystem needs to be endorsed by institutional investors. Getting them to participate will be a challenge, though, since many of them continue to remain skeptical even of the more well-known and well-established digital assets, let alone the newcomers.
The future
So, what does the future hold for the PEPE coin? Since it seems like there’s no way it could ever hold on to its gains, it may seem like this marketplace is bound to stagnate forever. But that’s not necessarily the case. Despite the lack of a fundamental use case, dogecoin has kept a market capitalization level of several billion dollars, surpassing several mainstream crypto coins. PEPE’s rise to popularity saw several meme coins gain more prominent positions in the ecosystem, only to subsequently fall shortly after. On the ETH blockchain, Wojack and Turbo followed in PEPE’s footsteps, while Solana had King and Guacamole became popular.
There were several investors who made millions in PEPE that moved to try Turbo as well, incentivized by the fact that the asset was created with the aid of artificial intelligence. In just a few days, the market cap surged to $80 million before going down to $50 million in the aftermath of profit-taking. The engagement from PEPE owners saw the number of holders jump from 56 to 4,000 in less than twenty-four hours. This movement led to alerts of steep on-chain activity, which fueled further investments. Meme coin culture isn’t afraid to speculate, meaning that any predictions and estimations concerning the future of this ecosystem are quite impossible to ascertain.
If you’re an investor, creating a comprehensive strategy that will allow you to keep up with the latest trends and marketplace shifts is essential. It’s the only way to secure your portfolio and guarantee that you will enjoy far more gains rather than losses. The crypto environment is known for its volatility and fluctuations, so a careful and attentive approach is the only way forward.