Originally published on: December 04, 2024
Crypto exchanges in the United States are fiercely competing for a slice of the memecoin market, and Binance.US has made a bold move by listing the popular memecoin PepePEPE.
PEPE will be tradable against Tether’s USDtUSDT stablecoin starting from Dec. 5 at 11:00 am UTC, as announced by Binance.US on Dec. 4.
With its significant popularity among network participants driven by social media and community support, PEPE currently boasts a total market capitalization of nearly $9 billion, according to CoinGecko.
The introduction of PEPE to Binance.US is part of a larger trend of crypto exchanges expanding their memecoin listings following the U.S. presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly stance has paved the way for exchanges like Coinbase to delve into offerings of smaller tokens, including memecoins.
Coinbase recently added memecoins Moodeng (MOODENG), Mog (MOG), and DogwifhatWIF to its platform, while Binance.US listed BonkBONK in November.
Overall, memecoins collectively have a market capitalization exceeding $130 billion as of Dec. 4, fueling mixed reactions within the crypto community about their legitimacy and value.
Originally created in 2005 by artist Matt Furie, Pepe the Frog quickly became a widespread internet meme, particularly embraced by cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Other Furie creations such as Brett (BRETT), Andy (ANDY), and Landwolf (WOLF) have also gained popularity as memecoins.
Despite controversies surrounding the use of Pepe imagery by alt-right groups during the 2016 U.S. election, the character remains a symbol of internet culture. Furie has taken legal action against the unauthorized use of Pepe, emphasizing that the majority of Pepe’s representations are not bigoted.
The memecoin market continues to evolve and attract attention, prompting both excitement and skepticism among investors and influencers. Whether memecoins are the future of crypto or a speculative gamble remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the memecoin mania is here to stay.