Pepecoin (PEPE) surged as much as 40% in the past 24 hours, extending its weekly gains to over 70%, as part of a market-wide rally led by Bitcoin (BTC). Trading volumes for the frog-themed token jumped to over $800 million, according to CoinGecko data, likely due to a risk-on environment that encouraged bets on riskier assets, such as altcoins and meme coins.
PEPE’s gains were significantly higher than those of other meme tokens such as Shiba Inu (SHIB), Floki (FLOKI) and Dogecoin (DOGE), even as developers of some of these tokens introduced ecosystem upgrades. This suggests high buying interest for Pepecoin.
Futures contracts tracking PEPE had more than $13 million of liquidations, which may have contributed to the price spike as short positions – or bets that the price of PEPE would fall – were settled. Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin.
Funding rates in perpetual futures tied to PEPE futures remain negative, indicating the dominance of bearish positions in the derivatives market. This may allow traders to position themselves accordingly.
The surge in Pepecoin’s price can be attributed to Bitcoin crossing the $30,000 mark on Wednesday, which was likely spurred by the flurry of Bitcoin ETF filings by traditional finance players in the U.S.
Pepecoin (PEPE) Surges 70% in a Week Amid Market-Wide Rally
