coindesk.com
Pepe (PEPE) token reached a $6 billion market capitalization on Thursday, becoming the biggest meme coin launch of 2023.
The recent surge in PEPE's value is partly attributed to its use as a levered bet on the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem, with traders anticipating the approval of a spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S.
Pepe (PEPE) zoomed into the twenty largest tokens by market capitalization earlier Thursday as a “beta bet” narrative added nearly 40% to the token in the past week, CoinMarketCap data shows.
The frog-themed token was issued in April 2023, quickly surging to a $1 billion market capitalization weeks after going live. It has since become a meme coin mainstay, reaching a $6 billion market capitalization on Thursday. This has effectively made pepe the biggest meme coin launch of 2023 in a year that saw bonk (BONK), dogwifhat (WIF) and others issued.
PEPE’s recent rise, alongside mog (MOG), has been buoyed by its use as a levered bet on the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem as traders anticipate the approval of a spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S.
At least one trader has made it big from a small initial buy. On-chain analysis by Lookonchain shows a crypto address that purchased about $460 worth of the tokens shortly after launch bagged over $3.4 million in profits this week.
The buyer spent 0.22 ETH to buy 324.9B PEPE on April 15, 2023, and deposited the tokens to crypto exchange Binance on Wednesday, Lookonchain said, where the tokens were presumably sold.
It is unknown if the address was connected to the developer team that issued PEPE. However, the usage of automated bots is common among meme coin traders – who typically purchase small amounts of every token that hits the market, based on certain criteria, hoping to eventually catch a big win.
Some traders expect PEPE to eventually flip the dog-themed shiba inu (SHIB), which is valued at a $14 billion market capitalization as of Thursday.
Pepe’s early buys have minted several millionaires in the past year. A few connected wallets turned about $1,200 of initial capital to over $9 million in the week after the token’s launch, as reported, while another $260 purchase netted over $3 million in profits for a different buyer.