Silently charting an impressive 100% surge this week, the frog-emblematic Pepecoin has now come to light as a probable contender for the resilient Dogecoin.
A while back, the rise and subsequent fall of Pepecoin transformed early backers into overnight millionaires while those who joined late were left with depreciating assets.
While the price chart is reminiscent of a typical crypto boom-and-bust scenario, the current market movement of Pepecoin (PEPE) suggests that this frog-inspired token might challenge Dogecoin (DOGE), the undisputed champion of the memecoin world, currently priced at $0.07.
For years, Dogecoin has maintained its dominant position in the memecoin arena. Numerous tokens, with canine themes such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Floki (FLOKI), have vied for DOGE’s crown but eventually lost their momentum.
SHIB enjoyed a brief period of dominance over DOGE in market capitalization in October 2021, reaching a pinnacle valuation of $41.1 billion driven by a 1,000% surge in price, surpassing Dogecoin’s market cap of $31.5 billion. However, as SHIB’s extraordinary rise cooled, DOGE reclaimed its leading position.
As it stands, Dogecoin holds the ninth rank in the global cryptocurrency market by capitalization, with Shiba Inu’s value less than half of Dogecoin’s.
A new entrant in the market, Pepecoin, a frog-themed ERC-20 token on Ethereum, launched on April 15, has managed to secure a spot in the top 100 coins by market cap.
PEPE Leaps into the Limelight
The recent surge in the crypto market, boosted by a series of Bitcoin ETF filings in the U.S., saw PEPE at the forefront of gains.
The upward trajectory of the token’s price was spurred by subtle indications from the U.S.-based Gemini exchange about a potential PEPE coin listing.
The remarkable 100% price jump from $0.000000833 to $0.00000167 within a week may be attributed to speculation surrounding potential future listings on well-known U.S. exchanges like Coinbase.
As PEPE rides the bullish wave, let’s compare its performance against DOGE during the last two months.
Pepecoin Versus Dogecoin: The Rise of a New Champion?
Pepecoin catapulted to fame during the wave of Ethereum-based memecoin popularity in May 2023. This iteration of frog-themed tokens and NFTs gained significant popularity in a relatively short time.
At its zenith on May 6, Pepecoin held 13.8% of Dogecoin’s market cap, but it has experienced a consistent downtrend since then.
The token regained its momentum with Bitcoin’s recent bullish surge over $30,000, marking a 100% increase from a valuation of $393 million on June 20 to $786 million on June 23.
As of June 23, the token’s share of Dogecoin’s market cap grew from 6% to 7%.
During the memecoin hype on Ethereum, PEPE outpaced DOGE in trading volumes, reaching highs of over $1.5 billion, approximately four times that of DOGE.
However, as the memecoin excitement cooled, Pepecoin’s trading volume dwindled, falling behind Dogecoin’s. A potential listing on U.S. exchanges could reinvigorate Pepecoin’s trading volumes in the months to come.
A comparison of Google keyword search trends for Dogecoin and Pepecoin shows that interest in Pepecoin almost matched that of Dogecoin in the first week of May.
Despite this, the “Pepecoin” search volume on Google has since tapered off, with “Dogecoin” maintaining a seven to eight times higher average.
An edge that Pepecoin has over Dogecoin is its native compatibility with Ethereum, allowing for potential integrations with Ethereum’s DeFi and NFT ecosystems.
Additionally, Pepecoin has a finite supply of 420.69 trillion, while Dogecoin, using a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, has a fixed annual supply of 5 billion coins.
Yet, in terms of market capitalization and Google popularity, Pepecoin has considerable ground to cover before it achieves the mainstream memecoin status of Dogecoin.
Further, Dogecoin’s early entrant advantage and entrenched network dominance present a formidable challenge for Pepecoin, which is merely a few months old compared to Dogecoin’s eight-year lifespan.