Pepe is up 34% from its mid-December low, thanks in large part to Elon Musk’s new avatar with an X on it.
In addition, new Pepe versions such as Pepe Unchained and Wall Street Pepe continue to attract attention.
Pepe's explosion comes as Elon Musk switches from Dogecoin to Frog
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a well-known memecoin enthusiast, has recently set his sights on Pepe. The shift marks his move from Dogecoin to Pepe, while also showing Musk’s political connection to the coin.
Pepe first became a political meme in 2016 as Donald Trump's presidential campaign gained momentum and quickly spread across the internet. In 2024, Musk will be running alongside President-elect Trump in the US election, planning to co-chair a new department aimed at making the government more efficient after Trump takes office.
This week, Musk updated his X profile, changing his name to Kekius Maximus and adding an image of Pepe the Frog in warrior gear, further deepening the political and cultural association.
Pepe's price had already risen before, hitting a local low on December 24. However, Musk's new image updated on his profile quickly attracted more attention.
From a low of $0.0000144 on Dec. 24, Pepe has surged 51%, surging to $0.000021857 on Tuesday.
Now, Pepe’s price is still 34% above its lows and is currently trading at $0.000019211.
Traders praise Pepe as the "DOGE of the 2024-2025 cycle"
Analyst Max Schwartzman believes that Pepe is the most eye-catching memecoin in the current cycle, and Elon Musk's support and Pepe's own relative strength are key factors.
He pointed out that many people may not realize that Pepe's market value has reached $8 billion, while the price of Ethereum has not yet broken through $3,500, which is very important. Schwartzman hinted that once Ethereum rises sharply in a bull market, Pepe may also usher in a huge upward momentum.
According to Schwartzman's forecast, Pepe could reach a market value of $40 billion to $125 billion in a bull market by 2025.
It is worth mentioning that today Pepe’s trading volume has surpassed Dogecoin. Pepe’s 24-hour trading volume reached $3.8 billion, while Dogecoin’s was only $1.9 billion, which is a reflection of Musk’s influence.
Pepe's alternatives are expanding the ecosystem
As Pepe’s price, trading volume, and global popularity continue to rise, other Pepe-themed cryptocurrencies are also vying for market attention.
Pepe Unchained, a memecoin based on Pepe with its own second-layer blockchain, is preparing to launch the Pepe Pump Pad. This new feature is similar to Solana’s Pump.fun, allowing users to create their own memecoin in seconds without writing code.
The Pepe Pump Pad program is based on the Pump.fun platform, providing anti-panic protection and optimizing user experience.
Pepe Unchained’s second-layer blockchain offers 100 times faster transaction speeds and lower costs than the Ethereum mainnet, laying the foundation for the launch of the Pepe Pump Pad.
RJ, an analyst from Cryptonews, recently updated Pepe Unchained on the latest progress of the “memecoin factory”.
Meanwhile, another Pepe alternative project, Wall Street Pepe, is also showing strong growth momentum in the pre-sale stage.
Wall Street Pepe combines the characteristics of Pepe with Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street), which fits the overall goal of the project. This project is building a professional ecosystem focused on memecoin trading analysis, providing trading signals, memecoin selection, internal trading groups, staking and trading rewards, etc.
Presales for Wall Street Pepe are progressing rapidly, with the first phase of presales having already raised nearly $40 million.
Well-known trader ClayBro said that Elon Musk’s recent actions around Pepe are the “necessary boost” and suggested that Pepe’s growth could have a positive impact on Wall Street Pepe pre-sales.
The project will be pre-sold in phases, with prices increasing slightly with each phase. The next phase will begin later today.