Binance.US has listed popular memecoin Pepe (PEPE) as US cryptocurrency exchanges vie for a share of the lucrative memecoin market.
Trading PEPE against Tether (USDT), a stablecoin, will begin on Dec. 5 at 6:00 am. Eastern, Binance.US said on Dec. 4.
“Since its inception, PEPE has seen significant popularity among network participants, largely driven by social media and community support,” Binance.US said.
As of Dec. 4, PEPE traded at a total market capitalization of nearly $9 billion, according to CoinGecko.
Pepe the Frog. Source: Boy’s Club Wiki
More memecoin listings
Crypto exchanges — including Binance.US and Coinbase — are ramping up memecoin listings after President-elect Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 win.
Under crypto-friendly Trump, Coinbase expects “to do more with […] some of those tokens that we weren’t able to offer [previously],” Tom Duff Gordon, Coinbase’s vice president of international policy, reportedly told Bloomberg in November.
“We’re talking more about some of the smaller tokens, some of the memecoin tokens,” Gordon said.
In December, Coinbase listed memecoins including Moodeng (MOODENG), Mog (MOG), and Dogwifhat (WIF).
In November, Binance.US listed Bonk (BONK), a popular dog-themed memecoin.
As of Dec. 4, memecoins collectively trade at total a market capitalization of more than $130 billion, according to CoinGecko.
Memecoins have drawn mixed reactions from the crypto community. Some influencers, like Murad Mahmudov, argue that memecoins provide a legitimate use case for crypto by removing the speculation premium from altcoins.
Others, such as Jimmy Song, believe that memecoins are a net negative for investors and represent the height of speculative gambling.
Source: CoinGecko
Pepe’s origins
Created in 2005 by artist Matt Furie, Pepe is a cartoon frog that became an immensely popular internet meme, particularly among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Other Furie creations also became popular memecoins, including Brett (BRETT), Andy (ANDY), and Landwolf (WOLF).
During the 2016 US presidential election, Pepe imagery became popular among alt-right groups, drawing controversy to what Furie describes as a “peaceful frog-dude.”
In 2019, Furie sued Infowars and its creator, Alex Jones, for using the character in Infowars’ political material.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, a hate watchdog, the “majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted.”
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