Crypto investors are betting on microcap meme coins as the latest flavor of the month in the crypto market. These tokens, such as Pepe 2.0, Floki 2.0, and Bobo 2.0, which were mostly issued in the past week, have seen trading volumes jump to millions of dollars and attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars in liquidity, turning a few dollars into six-figure fortunes almost overnight.
Anyone can call a smart contract and issue tokens on Ethereum (or other blockchains) for a few cents, and the presence of decentralized exchanges means tokens can instantly be issued, supplied with liquidity, and traded soon after. As of Tuesday, Pepe 2.0, seemingly the most popular of the clones, saw nearly $7 million worth traded in the previous 24 hours, sporting a market capitalization of $18 million, down from a peak of $45 million last week.
On-chain analysis tool BubbleMaps has pointed out the centralized behavior of some early buyers who likely cornered a large part of the Pepe 2.0 supply at launch and are gradually selling the tokens. That concentration may have contributed to the large price pump amid buying demand and significantly low sales from early buyers.
The real Pepecoin (PEPE) is continuing to attract investors, with some large purchases extending gains of a nearly 80% rally over the past two weeks. Data from LookOnChain shows two wallets purchased millions of the tokens on Monday as a niche part of the market bets on the frog-themed tokens flipping Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) – arguably the most popular meme coins – in the years to come.