Pepecoin Becomes Biggest Meme Coin Gainer as DOGE, SHIB Rally Eases
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Shaurya Malwa
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The frog-themed token’s trading volumes reached lifetime highs of $3.6 billion.
Its gains surpassed those of other meme tokens like Shiba Inu, Floki, and Dogecoin, even as developers of these tokens introduced ecosystem upgrades.
Pepecoin (PEPE) surged as much as 60% in the past 24 hours to extend weekly gains to over 370% amid a meme coin rally sparked by the likes of dogecoin (DOGE) and bonk (BONK).
Trading volumes for the frog-themed tokens jumped to lifetime highs of $3.6 billion, CoinGecko data shows, as a risk-on environment likely fueled outsized bets on riskier assets, such as altcoins and meme coins.
Gains of the frog-themed pepecoin were significantly higher than meme tokens shiba inu (SHIB) and dogecoin – even as developers of some of these tokens introduced ecosystem upgrades. DOGE gained 170% over the past week, while SHIB gained 200%. Meanwhile, the broader CoinDesk 20 index (CD20) has gained 14%.
Meme coins first appeared to come into focus in late February as bitcoin, ether and Solana’s SOL jumped more than 10%. Non-serious tokens are seen as a way to bet on the growth of a blockchain, as they are considered more retail-friendly and easier to understand for new investors.
Meanwhile, futures products tied to PEPE saw unusually large liquidations since Friday, suggesting short covering – or traders exiting bearish bets on the meme coin’s price – might be exaggerating the size of the gain.
“Traders and investors are pumping meme coins to satisfy a hunger for quick flips as bluechip tokens and coins take a breather in their recent surge in prices,” said Nick Ruck, COO of ContentFi Labs.
Futures contracts tracking PEPE had more than $50 million of liquidations. This may have contributed to the price spike as short positions – or bets that PEPE would fall – were settled.
As such, funding rates in perpetual futures tied to PEPE futures remain negative, indicating the dominance of bearish positions in the derivatives market. A negative funding rate indicates that shorts are dominant and are willing to pay longs to keep their bearish bets open.
