PEPE’s Surge to Top 20 Tokens Turns Early $460 Purchase to $3.4M

Pepe (PEPE) zoomed into the twenty largest tokens by market capitalization earlier Thursday as a “beta bet” narrative added nearly 40% to the token in the past week, CoinMarketCap data shows.
The frog-themed token was issued in April 2023, quickly surging to a $1 billion market capitalization weeks after going live. It has since become a meme coin mainstay, reaching a $6 billion market capitalization on Thursday. This has effectively made pepe the biggest meme coin launch of 2023 in a year that saw bonk (BONK), dogwifhat (WIF) and others issued.
PEPE’s recent rise, alongside mog (MOG), has been buoyed by its use as a levered bet on the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem as traders anticipate the approval of a spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S.
At least one trader has made it big from a small initial buy. On-chain analysis by Lookonchain shows a crypto address that purchased about $460 worth of the tokens shortly after launch bagged over $3.4 million in profits this week.
The buyer spent 0.22 ETH to buy 324.9B PEPE on April 15, 2023, and deposited the tokens to crypto exchange Binance on Wednesday, Lookonchain said, where the tokens were presumably sold.
It is unknown if the address was connected to the developer team that issued PEPE. However, the usage of automated bots is common among meme coin traders – who typically purchase small amounts of every token that hits the market, based on certain criteria, hoping to eventually catch a big win.
Some traders expect PEPE to eventually flip the dog-themed shiba inu (SHIB), which is valued at a $14 billion market capitalization as of Thursday.
Pepe’s early buys have minted several millionaires in the past year. A few connected wallets turned about $1,200 of initial capital to over $9 million in the week after the token’s launch, as reported, while another $260 purchase netted over $3 million in profits for a different buyer.
Edited by Oliver Knight.
Disclosure
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.
Shaurya is the Deputy Managing Editor for the Data & Tokens team, focusing on decentralized finance, markets, on-chain data, and governance across all major and minor blockchains.
Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.