Key Points
- The frog-themed memecoin Pepe (PEPE) has achieved a remarkable milestone by surpassing Uniswap’s UNI token in market capitalization, reaching over $11 billion and setting a new all-time high.
- Despite having “no intrinsic value” by its own admission, Pepe has demonstrated extraordinary growth, increasing its market cap by approximately 18x since the beginning of 2024.
Historic Market Cap Achievement
In a significant development for the memecoin sector, Pepe has overtaken Uniswap’s native token UNI in market capitalization on December 7, 2024. The memecoin’s market cap surged to over $11 billion, exceeding UNI’s approximately $10.6 billion valuation. This achievement comes amid a strong performance period, with Pepe gaining 16.8% in 24 hours and approximately 26% over seven days.
From Cartoon Character to Crypto Phenomenon
Pepe’s origins trace back to a cartoon frog created by comic book artist Matt Furie in 2005, though the cryptocurrency project maintains no official connection to Furie or his original “Boys Club” series. Since its launch in 2023, Pepe has emerged as a formidable competitor in the memecoin space, achieving gains of over 7,000% since its inception and securing its position among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Recent Price Action and Exchange Listing
The memecoin’s journey to its current all-time high has been marked by significant volatility. After experiencing a notable 30% rally in September 2024, followed by a retracement in early November, Pepe entered a consolidation phase. However, November marked the beginning of a historic rally that culminated in the current record high. The token’s growing popularity led to its listing on Binance.US on December 5, further cementing its position in the cryptocurrency market. According to CoinMarketCap, Pepe has a maximum supply of approximately 420 trillion tokens, all of which are currently in circulation.
