PEPE and WIF Jump 50%, Putting Ethereum and Solana Meme Coins in Focus

Prominent meme tokens on Ethereum and Solana ecosystems, such as PEPE and WIF, have rallied significantly, gaining up to 51% in the past 24 hours.

The surge in meme coins is seen as a way to bet on the growth of a blockchain and is spreading to tokens on other networks, with an average gain of 13% in the past 24 hours.

Prominent meme tokens of the Ethereum and Solana ecosystem rallied on Tuesday as the sector is quickly gaining prominence among crypto enthusiasts as a way to bet on the growth of a blockchain.

Pepe (PEPE), the frog-themed meme token on Ethereum, was up as much as 51% in the past 24 hours to reach price levels previously seen in May. Bonk, the dog-themed token on Solana, was up as much as 25% before retreating in European afternoon hours on Tuesday. The CD20, a measure of the broader market, added 6%.

The Solana-based Dogwifhat (WIF) zoomed over 65% before giving back some gains. Meanwhile, The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a benchmark for the biggest and most liquid cryptocurrencies, jumped nearly 8%.

Futures tracking pepe tokens saw less than $5 million in liquidated bets, suggesting the price surge was mostly driven by spot demand.

Such price action could spread to meme tokens on other networks, with several meme tokens zooming since Monday night. The category has gained more than 13% on average in the past 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows.

The meme coin rally comes as ether (ETH), and Solana’s SOL gained more than 8% in the past 24 hours as bitcoin (BTC) topped the $57,000 mark for the first time since November 2021.

Such tokens are usually considered to have no intrinsic value – have recently risen in prominence as a beta bet on whichever ecosystem they are based on. Some, like the Avalanche Foundation, a non-profit that maintains the Avalanche blockchain, have even started to invest in meme tokens built on the network in recognition of the online culture and memetic value that such tokens can drive among investors.

Some say meme coins are also a profitable, albeit risky, way to gain from ecosystem growth.

“While meme tokens have been out of the narrative, they often pump following blue chip rallies, and traders reposition from ETH and BTC to altcoins,” Nick Ruck, COO of ContentFi Labs, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

Meanwhile, at least six wallets sold over $4 million worth of PEPE tokens early Tuesday, contributing to some selling pressure.

“6 wallets sold 1.98T $PEPE($4.37M) to take profits, with a total profit of ~$2M,” analysis firm Lookonchain posted. “5 wallets (possibly belonging to the same person) deposited 1.5T $PEPE($3.3M) to $Binance, making $1.49M(+82%).”