How the Pepe coin, ‘fueled by pure memetic power,’ soared past a $1.6 billion market cap in 3 weeks—and then tumbled

Ben Weiss

<p>In early April, the <a href="https://fortune.com/company/twitter/" target="_blank">Twitter</a> account @pepecoineth posted a photo of a cartoonish green frog wearing a red cap emblazoned with “Make Memecoins Great Again,” referring to Donald Trump’s presidential slogan.</p><div class="paywall-selector"></div><div class="paywall">



<p>Two weeks later, the Pepe coin, whose name comes from a popular meme co-opted by the American alt-right, was released with a total supply of 420.69 trillion coins. (The meaning of these numbers is, ahem, self-evident.) A trading frenzy ensued, and Pepe, which is “<a href="https://www.pepe.vip/">fueled by pure memetic power</a>” and trades under the ticker $PEPE, skyrocketed in value.</p>



<p>In less than three weeks, the market capitalization for the memecoin—a cryptocurrency that&#8217;s typically a joke and tool for speculation—crossed $1.6 billion, according to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/pepe/">CoinMarketCap</a>. (It is currently hovering near $800 million.) Each coin is worth between two- to three-millionths of a dollar. Since <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/pepe/historical_data#panel%5C">CoinGecko</a> began tracking it on April 18, one day after its debut, the Pepe token has increased more than 900% in price—it&#8217;s now listed on major exchanges like Crypto.com and Binance.</p>



<iframe title="Market capitalization for $PEPE in 2023" aria-label="Interactive line chart" id="datawrapper-chart-l7YkB" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/l7YkB/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="400" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();</script>



<p>“Pump the frog,” an exhortation to increase the token's price, became a common refrain on Twitter, and the cryptocurrency’s Telegram group is a chaotic mishmash of memes and price talk. How did something so unabashedly worthless become so valuable?</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘Feels good, man’</h2>



<p>If there’s one meme that encapsulates the confusing twists and turns of internet culture, it’s a green frog with a preternaturally expressive face.</p>



<p>In 2005, illustrator Matt Furie released a web comic titled <em>Boy’s Club</em> that featured a frog named Pepe. The character made frequent appearances in Furie’s work. At one point, in response to a question about his bathroom habits, the character responds, “Feels good, man.”</p>



<p>Soon, Pepe became a popular meme, and the internet used the frog’s expressive face in almost every conceivable circumstance, including hate speech. In 2016, <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/pepe-frog">the Anti-Defamation League</a> designated the meme as a hate symbol. The organization cited various online examples, including an image of Pepe saying “feels good” while wearing a Nazi stormtrooper helmet.</p>



<p>Furie, incensed by the co-option of his comic-book frog, launched a campaign with the Anti-Defamation League to <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-joins-pepe-creator-matt-furie-social-media-campaign-savepepe#.WAkCn_krLcs">rescue</a> Pepe from the American alt-right. Since then, the meme has lived in comparative ambiguity. Its association with hate speech still continues, but it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-pepe-frog.html">became a symbol</a>, for example, of the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is a memecoin?</h2>



<p>The Pepe token is the latest chapter in the meme’s almost two-decades-long history. But it's certainly not the first memecoin.</p>



<p>Dogecoin, created in late 2013 by developers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, was arguably the first memecoin to land on the market. They said they made it as a joke, with its name a reference the popular “doge” meme, or an image of a Shiba Inu, a particular breed of dog. As opposed to Bitcoin, a replacement for currency, or Ethereum, a decentralized computing platform, Dogecoin unapologetically had no purpose.</p>



<p>That didn’t stop the token from taking off in popularity, and even Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter and Telsa, has repeatedly jumped on the <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/02/15/elon-musk-dogecoin-shiba-inu-floki-twitter-dog/">doge</a> <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/04/03/elon-musk-twitter-dogecoin-memecoin/">bandwagon</a>. Now, the cryptocurrency has a market capitalization of more than $10 billion, according to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/">CoinMarketCap</a>.</p>



<p>Since then, a flood of memecoins have saturated the market, including <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/shiba-inu/">Shiba Inu</a>, another dog-inspired token, and even recent additions like <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/good-gensler/">Good Gensler</a>, a token that pokes fun at Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission who’s set his crosshairs on the crypto industry writ large.</p>



<p>Many of the most popular memecoins, like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, are canine-inspired. "The dogs have had their day," wrote the developers behind the Pepe token, "it’s time for Pepe to take reign."</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Who's behind Pepe?</h2>



<p>The world of crypto is a pseudonymous slurry of nicknames, numbers, and memes. And the developers of Pepecoin are similarly unknown.</p>



<p>They operate the @pepecoineth Twitter account, and <a href="https://www.pepe.vip/">their website</a> has no contact information. The only clues to their activities are two press releases from mid-April: one launched from <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pepe-climbs-70-million-volume-214300277.html">Guadelejara, Mexico</a>, that advertises the success of the Pepe token, and another <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2023-04-19/dangpt-a-blockchain-based-ai-language-model-that-pushes-the-boundaries-of-artificial-intelligence">launched from London</a> that announces the creation of another memecoin, DanGPT, “the daring twin of ChatGPT.” The name David Costla accompanies both releases.</p>



<p>In addition to messaging account handles associated with the Pepe token across different social media platforms, <em>Fortune</em> reached out to both email addresses listed on the press releases but has yet to receive a response.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In the meantime, memecoin trading has seen a <a href="https://dune.com/j1002/meme-narrative-craze">dramatic uptick</a>, according to data compiled by Dune analyst James Tolan. Pepe fervor is partly fueling the craze—many are still looking to "pump the frog"—although after crossing $1.6 billion, the token crashed to a market cap that's now closer to $800 million, according to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/pepe/">CoinMarketCap</a>. Pepe has traveled the internet for decades. Where he goes next is anyone's guess.</p></div>

This is just the latest in the ever-winding story of Pepe, an enduring meme adopted by both the American alt-right and Hong Kong protesters.

Photo illustration of Pepe meme in a rocket ship with smoke coming out.

Learn more about all things crypto with short, easy-to-read lesson cards. Click here for <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/crash-course/">Fortune's Crypto Crash Course</a>.

F-BreakingNews

Cryptocurrency

The Coins

NFTs and Culture

How the Pepe coin, ‘fueled by pure memetic power,’ soared past a $1.6 billion market cap in 3 weeks—and then tumbled | Fortune Crypto

Some Fortune Crypto pricing data is provided by Binance.

One man; male criminal dressed all in black; carrying stolen Bitcoin

Four teens charged for alleged pistol-whipping, attempted Bitcoin robbery of OnlyFans influencer

/crypto/2025/03/17/four-teens-charged-for-alleged-pistol-whipping-attempted-bitcoin-robbery-of-onlyfans-influencer/

Catherine McGrath

TON surges 24% as Telegram founder Pavel Durov returns home to Dubai amid ongoing investigation

/crypto/2025/03/17/ton-crypto-surges-telegram-founder-pavel-durov-dubai-ongoing-investigation-blockchain-france/

Austin Federa speaks on stage at a Solana conference.

How Jump and Solana vets are building a hyper fast internet for blockchains

/crypto/2025/03/15/doublezero-malbec-labs-jump-crypto-solana-hft-trading-private-internet/

U.S. crypto czar’s $200 million portfolio held Bitcoin, Coinbase, and Robinhood

/crypto/2025/03/14/david-sacks-bitcoin-coinbase-robinhood-200-million-divestments-crypto-portfolio/

Vildana Hajric

Yiqin Shen

Bloomberg

Michael Saylor at the White House Crypto Summit in early March.

Michael Saylor-fueled crypto complex gets bigger with debt ETF

/crypto/2025/03/14/michael-saylor-etf-bitcoin-balance-sheet-bmax-rex/

Argentina seeks arrest of U.S. crypto figure tied to Melania and Milei cryptocurrencies

/crypto/2025/03/13/hayden-davis-javier-milei-interpol-red-notice-prosecutor-asked-judge-melania/

Fortune Editors

Fortune Crypto provides smart and timely news about Bitcoin, Ethereum and how startups and big companies are using blockchain to transform finance and investing.

Daily News, Analysis &amp; Price Data on Bitcoin, Ethereum &amp; More

Uncategorized

homepage

Fortune Crypto

Companies

NFTs & Culture

Regulators

Latest News, Analysis, Insights &amp; Price Data on Cryptocurrencies

Sam Bankman-Fried is behind bars serving a 25-year sentence. So how is he conducting a media blitz?

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/03/12/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-prison-tucker-carlson-bop-sanctions/?itm_source=parsely-api

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/03/17/four-teens-charged-for-alleged-pistol-whipping-attempted-bitcoin-robbery-of-onlyfans-influencer/?itm_source=parsely-api

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/03/13/hayden-davis-javier-milei-interpol-red-notice-prosecutor-asked-judge-melania/?itm_source=parsely-api

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/03/17/ton-crypto-surges-telegram-founder-pavel-durov-dubai-ongoing-investigation-blockchain-france/?itm_source=parsely-api

U.S. crypto czar's $200 million portfolio held Bitcoin, Coinbase, and Robinhood

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/03/14/david-sacks-bitcoin-coinbase-robinhood-200-million-divestments-crypto-portfolio/?itm_source=parsely-api

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/03/15/doublezero-malbec-labs-jump-crypto-solana-hft-trading-private-internet/?itm_source=parsely-api