- The Pepe price jumped more than 35% that day as the cryptocurrency market enjoyed a strong start to 2026.
- Bonk, Floki and SPX6900 also posted substantial gains, underscoring renewed memecoin momentum.
- Speculative enthusiasm has also influenced price moves in top coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
At the time of writing, Pepe ranks as the most successful memecoin among the top 100 by market capitalization.
The frog-themed token recorded an impressive 35% gain over the past 24 hours and traded at intraday highs near $0.000005667.
Notably, Pepe’s rally was accompanied by a dramatic surge in trading activity.
According to CoinMarketCap, the Ethereum-based memecoin posted more than $1.4 billion in 24-hour volume, a figure that surged roughly 650% over the same period.
While bulls pushed the price higher, short-term liquidations added to upward pressure. CoinGlass data show over $10 million in liquidations for the token.
More than $9.1 million of that total came from short positions.
Why is Pepe’s price surging?
Optimism around Pepe comes amid a bold projection from James Wynn, a prominent trader on the Hyperliquid platform.
Wynn forecasted that the memecoin’s market capitalization could reach an astonishing $69 billion by the end of 2026.
“On day one of $PEPE, when the market cap hit $600,000, I put it on several billion. Ultimate conviction and belief — and it paid off massively,” he wrote on X.
“Now I’m calling $PEPE to rise from $1.7 billion to $69 billion in 2026.”
That is a bold perspective implying roughly a 40-fold increase from the current level near $1.7 billion.
As he notes, Pepe could mirror or even exceed the performance Shiba Inu achieved in the previous cycle.
Pepe’s market capitalization has climbed above $2.3 billion following Wynn’s coverage.
If that trend continues, the token’s price could surpass the all-time high of $0.00002825 reached in December 2024.
Wynn says a mix of technical factors, bullish sentiment and broader market catalysts position Pepe favorably for a new memecoin resurgence.
He observed:
“If this bull market isn’t over, which I don’t believe, then in my view it’s highly likely we see $PEPE at the forefront of memecoins leading the way while money flows into Tier-1 memes and true fundamental altcoins. All social metrics (the decisive factor for meme coins) massively favor Pepe, including exchanges using it as branding in their posts to boost engagement and drive more sign-ups.”
Wynn argues that if Shiba Inu can reach $41 billion in market cap, Pepe has room to climb even higher.
Top memecoin Dogecoin reached $88 billion at the height of its parabolic run, suggesting $69 billion for Pepe could be attainable under the right conditions.
Bonk, Floki and SPX6900 among top memecoin winners
While Pepe grabbed headlines, other established memecoins helped fuel a strong start for the sector in 2026.
Floki (FLOKI), boosted by ongoing ecosystem developments, rose about 19% over the past day.
Like Pepe, Floki’s gains came with elevated trading volumes.
Another notable winner was Bonk (BONK), the Solana-based community token.
Renewed interest pushed BONK up roughly 15% in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile SPX6900 (SPX), known for a satirical take on financial markets, climbed about 16%.
Pudgy Penguins, Shiba Inu and Dogecoin also posted double-digit gains as the memecoin category overall enjoyed a lively start to the year.