The well-known Ethereum-based meme coin, PEPE, increased by more than 36% in the last week, hitting an all-time high of $0.00001467 on May 23. Investor excitement and price rallies have been sparked by the prospect of a spot Ether ETF, especially in meme coins like PEPE, as they eagerly anticipate the potential impact on the market.
As retail investors are now onto the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) train, traders have seized the opportunity to push their luck and bring back millions in profit from their trades.
On-chain data shows that at least three traders have made big trades, capitalizing on the influx of retail investment into the crypto market.
One early investor in PEPE made a strategic move by depositing their entire holdings of 182.9 billion PEPE, valued at $2.53 million, into a Finance account. This move started out from a larger purchase of 324.9 billion PEPE from last year that costed a mere $462, bringing in a total profit exceeding $3.4 million for the investor.
The PEPE market has also attracted the attention of institutional players. An institutional investment firm called BlockTower Capital caused a stir when it made a calculated PEPE trade. The company gave Cumberland, a well-known market maker that supports liquidity for both institutional and retail trading, $2.8 million worth of 202 billion PEPE.
PEPE's price broke through the $0.000014 barrier at the same time as this calculated move, generating a tidy profit of $578,000 on a $2.22 million investment spread over six days.
Although Pepe's market capitalization is currently four times smaller than Dogecoin's in the meme coin space, there is still potential for growth. Pepe might potentially see gains of up to 10x from its current price, reaching $0.00010, if it catches up to Dogecoin.
The price spike for PEPE and increased activity on the chain highlight how erratic meme coins can be. The prospect of significant profits draws in both institutional and individual investors, but it also raises the risk of sharp declines.
Massive long additions are evident in the derivative data, as open interest rose by more than 34.77% to $164.88 million in the previous day. The abrupt decline in weighted sentiment, however, suggests that investors may soon be taking profits at the highs in an effort to protect their gains.
The cryptocurrency community has taken notice of Pepe Coin's amazing surge, and traders and investors are keen to profit from the possible gains. Other meme coins saw notable increases of about 15% over the past day, including BONK.
Original meme currency Over the previous day, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) saw slight increases of 2.60% and 2.28%, respectively.
Even though it might be ambitious to expect 100x gains in the near future, Pepe's future is bright because of the expected approval of Ethereum ETFs and its status as one of the cycle's selected meme coins within the expanding Ethereum ecosystem.
The Ethereum ecosystem and the cryptocurrency market as a whole are being watched carefully by investors because of recent regulatory developments that have raised speculation about the SEC possibly approving a spot Ether ETF.
The agency is requesting that exchanges amend their 19b-4 filings, which include proposed rule changes. This indicates that there is a possibility that a spot Ether ETF will be approved, which would lead to a spike in price because it would attract more institutional investment and general acceptance.
Notwithstanding this development, the SEC has the option to reject the S-1 registration statement, which would postpone the ETF's approval and the start of trading.