The cryptocurrency PEPE quickly became one of the most discussed projects in the crypto market. With its rapid growth, it swiftly earned the status of a new symbol of the memecoin era.
Once little-known, PEPE now ranks among the leading memecoins. As of September 2025, it ranks among the top three largest memecoins, behind only Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), and holds the 32nd position in the overall cryptocurrency ranking by market capitalization, with a market cap of $4.4 billion.
Less than three weeks after its launch, PEPE appeared on the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, and its price surged by nearly 100 million percent, making its early investors incredibly wealthy.
The success of PEPE has led to the creation of many followers, such as Brett (BRETT), BOOK OF MEME (BOME), and Turbo (TURBO), who tried to replicate its triumph, though not all have achieved the same results.
How PEPE was created and what contributed to its popularity
The history of PEPE is typical of memecoins. It all started in April 2023 with the creation of a Twitter account, where a popular meme featuring the PEPE the Frog was posted, along with a reference to Donald Trump's phrase: "Make Memecoins Great Again."
In the same month, the PEPE token was released on the Ethereum blockchain in the ERC-20 format. Like the first memecoin, Dogecoin, PEPE was created without any particular goals, merely as a joke. The token developers decided to release 420 trillion PEPE units, following the approach of Shiba Inu.
However, despite the similarity to other memecoins, PEPE was initially designed as a "placeholder" or shitcoin*, with no utility function, roadmap, or promises of profit for investors.
* Shitcoin – a term referring to a cryptocurrency that has no real value or functionality. Shitcoins are typically created without a technological foundation, development roadmap, or utility functions, often with the goal of speculation. These coins can carry risks for investors, as they are usually based on popular memes rather than genuine innovations or crypto products.
The PEPE token was first made available for trading on the decentralized exchange Uniswap, where it quickly gained popularity. Its success was accelerated by crypto influencers and figures like Elon Musk, who actively supported the PEPE meme.
Three weeks after trading began, PEPE appeared on major centralized exchanges, and its market capitalization exceeded $1.6 billion, despite the absence of working products or technologies. At its peak in December 2024, PEPE's market capitalization reached $11 billion, surpassing the capitalization of serious cryptocurrencies like Litecoin (LTC) and Uniswap (UNI).
Why PEPE became a phenomenon
The reasons behind PEPE's success remain unclear. This could be attributed to the popularity of the meme, the viral effect on social media, or the rapid price increase of the token. However, experts believe that all of these factors played a role. Additionally, FOMO* (Fear of Missing Out) also stimulated demand among investors.
* FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – a psychological phenomenon where a person experiences anxiety or fear of missing a valuable opportunity, often leading to impulsive actions. In the cryptocurrency space, FOMO often leads people to buy tokens or coins, fearing they will lose out on profits if they don't act quickly.
PEPE perfectly illustrates the essence of memecoins: they are community-driven projects where the main driving force is not technology, but rather the people and their activity in social networks. Following PEPE, other memecoins adopted this model: no utility functions, but an emphasis on humor, simplicity, and community engagement.
The future of PEPE: a long-term trend or a temporary success?
Memecoins have become one of the main cryptocurrency trends of 2024–2025, though their market capitalization accounts for less than 2% of the total crypto market. Nevertheless, the memecoin market has grown by 90% in the past year, from $38 billion to $72 billion.
Memecoins have also significantly impacted the activity of blockchains such as Solana and BNB Chain, which have become leaders in the number of memecoins launched on them. And PEPE was one of those that set the trend for memecoins. Optimistic analysts believe that PEPE has become a symbol of the era, much like Dogecoin once was.
PEPE has also sparked cultural phenomena such as thematic NFT* collections, online games, and comics that use the memecoin as a payment method. This has made PEPE more utilitarian and increased interest in the project.
* NFT (Non-Fungible Token) – a unique digital asset representing an item that cannot be replaced with another identical one. Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin or Ethereum), each NFT has unique characteristics and can represent works of art, collectibles, video clips, music, or other types of content.
The future of PEPE remains uncertain. Some analysts believe that its value will continue to rise, while others are more skeptical, expecting the project to fail eventually.
If the current trend continues, the price of PEPE could rise to $0.000013–$0.000019 by the end of 2025, representing a 25–90% increase. According to forecasts, its price could range from $0.000015 to $0.000028 by 2030.
However, PEPE remains a speculative asset, and its value will depend on the sentiment of its community, making it highly volatile* and risky.
* High volatility – a term referring to an asset whose value is subject to significant fluctuations over a short period. High volatility means that the price of an asset can change sharply in both directions (up or down), making it risky for investors.