Launched in April 2023 on the Ethereum blockchain, PEPE represents the fusion of internet meme culture and cryptocurrency. This memecoin is a nostalgic nod to a web phenomenon: Pepe the Frog, a fictional character that is a cartoon frog. How did the PEPE crypto conquer the world of memecoins? And why is this frog valued at several billion dollars ?

What is the crypto PEPE ?

Created in April 2023 on Ethereum, the PEPE cryptocurrency is deeply rooted in the trend of memecoins, digital assets inspired by internet meme culture.

At the heart of this project is Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character created by illustrator Matt Furie in 2005 for his series “Boy’s Club.”

This frog quickly became a meme on platforms like Myspace and 4chan as early as 2008, taking on various forms like “Sad Frog” or “Smug Frog.”

Regarding PEPE, the creators remain anonymous, a common feature in the memecoin world. This ERC-20 token, with no development plan or roadmap, positions itself as a purely community-driven project with no claims of becoming a serious cryptocurrency.

From its launch, PEPE generated immediate enthusiasm, quickly reaching a market capitalization of over $420 million and ranking among the top 100 cryptocurrencies in just a few weeks.

The PEPE cryptocurrency saw rapid growth in 2023, largely due to the influence of social media platforms like Twitter and Telegram, and the popularity of the Pepe the Frog meme. Surprisingly, PEPE’s market capitalization surpassed one billion dollars just three weeks after its launch, a milestone that took almost four years for Dogecoin (DOGE), the most well-known memecoin, to achieve.

Despite this impressive valuation, the project has also faced some dark moments. For example, in August 2023, the PEPE community was alarmed by the unexplained transfer of 16 trillion tokens (worth about $15 million) from the project’s multi-signature wallet to several centralized exchanges.

This event shook the community and caused a significant drop in the token’s value, generating a wave of concern among PEPE holders.

To address the confusion, a message on the project’s official X account attempted to clarify the situation. The message stated that certain developers who had left the project were responsible for these fund movements, under the guise of a purported wallet update.

However, what seemed like a simple transaction turned out to be embezzlement, as the developers in question sold the misappropriated PEPE tokens. Following this incident, PEPE’s price continued to decline for several months.

Nevertheless, a revival began in October 2023 with a message on PEPE’s official X account. This post revealed the arrival of a new team determined to revitalize the cryptocurrency. This announcement was also accompanied by the news of a burn of 6.9 trillion PEPE, equivalent to about 6 million dollars.

What are the roles and tokenomics of the PEPE token ?

Like most memecoins, the PEPE token doesn’t have much practical use beyond uniting a community around a shared project.

However, PEPE stands out in the memecoin world thanks to unique features that contribute to its long-term success.

Indeed, the PEPE token differentiates itself from other memecoins through :

• A deflationary mechanism: with each PEPE transaction, a small percentage of tokens is burned, gradually reducing the total supply of PEPE in circulation;
• A redistribution system: a portion of each transaction is redistributed to PEPE holders. This encourages long-term holding to accumulate PEPE passively;
• A no-fee policy: this allows users to trade and conduct transactions with PEPE without additional fees, promoting smoother exchanges.

In terms of tokenomics, PEPE was launched with a maximum supply of 420,690 trillion tokens, of which 93.1% were initially available in a liquidity pool, while the remaining 6.9% were kept in a multi-signature wallet for future use.

If you’re considering buying PEPE, keep in mind that it’s a memecoin, and this cryptocurrency is not like the others. Its creators are unknown, there’s no roadmap, and nothing is developed around PEPE except for its community. Therefore, only the community aspect plays a role in the token’s popularity.

However, it’s important to remember the volatile and uncertain nature of memecoins, where their value isn’t based on tangible fundamentals, a roadmap, or concrete projects.

So even though PEPE might benefit from the overall momentum of the cryptocurrency market to gain popularity and value, investing in memecoins involves significant risks.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

David Crypto