Pepe coin (CRYPTO:PEPE) is one of many cryptocurrencies that are trading higher this week, and this time it’s not billionaire Elon Musk behind it. The cryptocurrency sector is in the spotlight amid a potential U.S. regulatory framework, viewed as a positive for future growth.
Here’s a look back at Pepe coin’s surge before, based on interactions from Musk.
Elon Musk and Pepe
Pepe coin, based on the popular Pepe the Frog meme, launched in mid-April 2023 and gained interest from the cryptocurrency community. The number of holders quickly grew thanks to the meme’s built-in popularity and name recognition.
The Pepe the Frog meme was created by artist Matt Furie. Because the meme is so well-known, used by the world’s richest person and the most-followed account on X, the associated coin often saw large spikes when Musk posted or shared memes featuring the easy-to-spot frog.
On May 13, 2023, Musk used a meme featuring Pepe the Frog to explain the First and Second Amendments. This may have been his first use of a Pepe the Frog meme by Musk on X. This could have been an entry point for investors looking to buy Pepe based on Musk’s potential future support.
Musk Shared the Same Meme Again
As reported by CoinMarketCap in March 2024, Musk changed his name to Kekius Maximus on X in late December 2024. At the time, he also changed his profile picture to an image that appears to have combined Pepe the Frog with a gladiator playing video games.
The move led to the creation of a new meme crypto Kekius Maximus (CRYPTO: KEKIUS), while also leading to Pepe trading up more than 21% higher over the last 24 hours at the time of writing.
Musk also tweeted he would reach level 80 in hardcore PoE, a post related to the game Path of Exile 2 that he likes to play.
Kek is a term used in gaming culture that often translates to lol or haha, based on translations from popular games such as World of Warcraft and Starcraft. There is also the Egyptian god Kek, who has been portrayed as Pepe the Frog since the 2016 election, per Dictionary.com.
Investing $1,000 in PEPE Coin
Pepe coin traded at a high of $0.000001889 on May 13, 2023. A $1,000 investment at the time could have bought 529,380,624.67 PEPE.
Based on a current price of $0.000003817 for PEPE at the time of writing, the $1,000 investment would be worth $2,020.65 today. This represents a potential gain of $1,020.65, with the investment up 102.1%.
As mentioned previously, there is no guarantee that Musk will continue to mention Pepe or share memes on social media.
Pepe coin hit an all-time high of $0.00002825 in December 2024.
This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.
Shutterstock/Akif CUBUK
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