Memes, web jokes and standard tradition references have grow to be an integral a part of on-line communities. Due to this, cryptocurrencies inevitably gave delivery to a brand new wave of belongings referred to as “memecoins.” Whereas some argue that these cash are only a fad, others may additionally imagine of their potential to carry monetary acquire to their buyers. 

Probably the most standard memecoins that was just lately launched is a frog-themed token referred to as PEPE. The token has gained traction amid the bear market and garnered quite a lot of assist from numerous members of the neighborhood regardless of its official web site saying “The coin is totally ineffective and for leisure functions solely.”

In line with its creators, PEPE is on a mission to “make memecoins nice once more,” a play on former United States President Donald Trump’s political slogan, “Make America nice once more.” The mission additionally expressed its intent to surpass dog-inspired memecoins that “have already got had their day” and have Pepe, which they argue to be essentially the most recognizable meme on this planet, take its place because the “king of memes.”

Because it makes its method to the highest, PEPE has to surpass the present king that sits on prime of the charts for memecoins —Dogecoin (DOGE). In a Cointelegraph Twitter ballot again on April 25, DOGE nonetheless remained on prime when Crypto Twitter was requested what they suppose may have the largest market capitalization in 2025. Nevertheless, PEPE got here in shut and claimed second place.

PEPE and Dogecoin have their similarities and can inevitably carry out otherwise from one another. Each crypto tokens gained a major following and had been created for the same motive, which is leisure. Nevertheless, the distinction lies of their journey to a $1-billion market capitalization and performances after hitting the market capitalization. 

Dogecoin’s journey to the highest of the memecoin world

Dogecoin was created 4 years after the genesis block of Bitcoin (BTC) was mined. It was created by software program engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, trying to poke enjoyable on the cryptocurrency area. 

The memecoin first gained traction in January 2014 because it reached a market capitalization of $60 million. 4 years later, the token’s market capitalization reached $1 billion for the primary time because the token’s value reached $0.0100.

Days after DOGE hit the milestone, the cryptocurrency proceeded to pump as much as $0.0175, bringing its market capitalization to $1.98 billion earlier than falling to a $784-million market cap, when the value fell to $0.0069 again on Jan. 16, 2018.

DOGE’s value chart in 2018 after it first reached a $1-billion market capitalization. Supply: CoinGecko

Virtually 4 years later, the crypto had one other run, breaking its earlier report. On Might 8, 2021, the token reached a market capitalization of $88 billion as its value reached an all-time excessive of $0.7315 per token. The worth motion is often related to the bull run of 2021–2022 the place token costs soared as BTC reached new highs. 

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Opposite to the expectations of its founders, DOGE grew to become some of the outstanding cryptocurrencies to ever exist. On the time of writing, the token sits on a $10-billion market capitalization, surpassing tokens similar to Solana (SOL) and Polygon (MATIC), which arguably have extra use instances than DOGE.

PEPE’s efficiency after hitting a $1-billion market cap

Not like DOGE, which took virtually 4 years earlier than reaching the milestone, PEPE gained recognition in a short time. Simply three weeks after its launch, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency virtually immediately shot up to a $1-billion market capitalization. The token gained assist and obtained listed in numerous exchanges from Bybit as much as Binance. 

PEPE’s market capitalization reaching $1.8 billion. Supply: CoinGecko

The token carried out fairly equally to DOGE after hitting the $1-billion mark. After attending to $1 billion on Might 5, the up-and-coming memecoin additionally virtually reached a $2-billion market cap on the identical day. Nevertheless, after reaching $1.82 billion in market capitalization, the token’s market cap shortly plummeted to $725 million on Might 9. 

On the time of writing, the token is buying and selling at $0.00000192 per token, with a market capitalization of $800 million.

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