In the world of cryptocurrencies, the freedom to create is open to anyone. This freedom has led to the emergence of multiple cryptocurrency subsectors all trying to solve or express something — one such subsector is meme coins.  Meme coins are simply the ability to bring internet culture and expression onto a blockchain. This sector is centred around popular internet memes, pop-cultural references, and viral online trends. Unlike other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) — which primarily serves as a digital currency and store of value — developers often create meme coins solely as light-hearted social experiments with limited utility.

Meme coins have invited a new generation of users to engage with blockchain technology in an approachable manner and Pepe (PEPE) is no exception.

What Is Pepe (PEPE)?

Pepe (PEPE) is an Ethereum-based meme coin based on the ‘Pepe the Frog’ internet meme. Originating from Matt Furie's comic "Boy's Club,“ the PEPE meme coin launched in April 2023 and quickly became an iconic internet sensation, ubiquitous with the crypto community and leading social media platforms like Reddit. Since then, PEPE become one of the most traded cryptocurrencies in the world, illustrating the power of internet culture.

How Does Pepe (PEPE) Work?

PEPE exists as an ERC-20 token built on top of the Ethereum blockchain. As a result, Ethereum’s network of proof-of-stake (PoS) validators processes all the PEPE transactions.

What Makes Pepe (PEPE) Unique?

Pepe (PEPE) has several unique traits:

Liquidity Provider (LP) Token Burn: At the time of launch, the Pepe team deposited 93.10% of the project’s token supply into liquidity pools to allow for trading to commence. Once deposited, the Pepe team burned (permanently destroyed) the liquidity provider tokens (LP tokens), ensuring liquidity stays in the respective pools.

Renounced Contract Ownership: Once PEPE was created, the team renounced their ownership of the token contract. This means the team who created it no longer have any control over the cryptocurrency, including the ability to modify its code. This feature has become increasingly popular among crypto creators as a means of mitigating fears of rug pulls (when the creating team run away with the project's money) and other fraudulent activity.

No-Tax Policy: Unlike some meme coins which may impose taxes on transactions, PEPE’s transactions do not incur additional fees and allow users to transact without any extra costs. This promotes ease of use and accessibility for users engaging in PEPE transactions.

What Makes Pepe (PEPE) Valuable?

As of yet, PEPE doesn’t have any additional functionality beyond its functions as a cryptocurrency. Because of this, we can assume that PEPE’s value is derived from its market demand as internet culture

Additional value can possibly be derived in the following ways:

Currency And Transfer of Value

PEPE is a cryptocurrency and as such it is a borderless, cheap and fast means of transacting value digitally.

Community-driven Internet Culture‍

Internet cultures have multiple forms, think digital art, viral trends and more. In the case of PEPE, its virality in meme and internet culture has allowed it to transcend its comic book origins and establish itself as a largest-scale cryptocurrency.

Strong Community

‍With a community of over 200,000 holders, PEPE is one of the largest meme coins by wallet holders.

Pepe (PEPE) Risks

‍Extremely high volatility: Because of their virality, popular meme coins are prone to excessively high price volatility. While some have successfully profited from the sharp price movements on meme coins, many traders have also lost due to the extreme price swings. The meme coins sector has a reputation for being a very high-risk high-reward sector. PEPE’s price has already experienced significant price volatility over its lifespan and this could continue.