PEPE, Dogecoin, BONK Lead Double-Digit Meme Coin Gains

With a crypto market surge propelling Bitcoin to $65,000, just 6% below its all-time high, meme coins like PepeCoin, Dogecoin, and BONK are following in its wake with double-digit gains on the day.

Of the meme coins in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, frog-themed PEPE is leading the charge, up 35.6% over the past 24 hours and a massive 421.8% over the past seven days. That's enough to have made it the 44th largest digital asset by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko data.

It's closely followed by a pack of dog-themed coins: Solana meme coin BONK (up 30%), Shiba Inu (SHIB, up 17.4%) and the OG itself, Dogecoin (DOGE, up 18.9%). FLOKI brings up the rear, with gains of 10.5% in the past 24 hours. Solana-based Dogwifhat (WIF) is up a more modest 3.2% on the day, but still posted impressive gains of 389.7% over the past week.

Meme coins, cryptocurrencies based around internet memes and current events, typically have little utility beyond speculation. They also generally have higher volatility than mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. That means that while they can have dramatic upward price movements, the falls can be equally precipitous.

Many meme coins with lower capitalizations also have low liquidity, meaning that it's difficult to realize any gains. A trader may see their investment increase by tenfold, but then might also struggle to sell their bags. Their close ties to internet memes, cultural references and current events also mean that a lot of meme coins burn out quickly, though "blue chips" like Dogecoin have endured.

Originally created in 2013 as a joke to poke fun at cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin has seen growing utility, launching applications such as payment integrations and, in recent months, Ordinals inscriptions (or "Doginals") that allow for the creation of NFT-like unique assets on its blockchain.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.