Pepe (PEPE) is a meme coin on Ethereum built around the internet-famous 'Pepe the Frog' cartoon. Launched in 2023, it became one of the biggest memes of its cycle purely on internet culture and viral energy — no product, no technology of its own, no cash flow. Like all pure memes, its value is entirely a function of attention, community and speculation. It has an astronomically large supply (over 420 trillion tokens), so it trades in tiny fractions of a cent, and it includes a burn mechanism that permanently removes some tokens over time to lean slightly deflationary. Its whole identity is being a widely recognized, highly liquid 'blue-chip meme'.
Where it stands today: PEPE is one of the most actively traded meme coins in the market, listed on hundreds of markets and major exchanges, with a large and growing holder base (well over half a million addresses). It's recognized enough that an asset manager even filed to launch a spot PEPE ETF — an unusual step for a pure meme. But it remains exactly that: a sentiment vehicle that spikes in 'risk-on' phases and fades when attention cools, and it sits well below its past peak. So today it's a top-tier, liquid meme with strong brand recognition and no fundamentals underneath — a bet on culture and attention, nothing more.