Coinbase Lists Meme Token PEPE as Price Surges 115%

Coinbase listed Pepe, a meme token created from a frog internet meme that gained popularity in the early 2000s. The long-awaited listing followed the recent bull market that drove most cryptocurrencies to unprecedented levels.

The crypto rally also pushed the valuation of PEPE to more than $9 billion, making it the fifteenth largest digital asset. According to CoinMarketCap, the meme token was up 20% in the past day and 115% on the weekly chart at the time of writing. Currently, PEPE trades at $0.00002275.

Coinbase Embraces Meme Tokens

On Wednesday, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal informed the crypto community that the exchange was soon listing the token.

“You have long wanted the frog. Well, soon you'll get the frog. @coinbase is adding PEPE to our listing roadmap with the goal of listing later today. Thanks for your patience,” he wrote. Interestingly, Pepe’s description on CoinMarketCap states that it aims to capitalize on the popularity of other meme tokens like Shiba Inu and Dogecoin.

You've long wanted the frog. Well, soon you'll get the frog. @coinbase is adding PEPE to our listing roadmap with the goal of listing later today. Thanks for your patience.

Interestingly, Coinbase faced criticism from the crypto community on Twitter last year after it published a newsletter article criticizing the meme token. In the publication, the author described an Ethereum-based meme coin as a coin “that has been co-opted as a hate symbol by alt-right groups,” citing the Anti-Defamation League for the description.

Past Criticism

The tussle came after PEPE reportedly became the fastest Ethereum token to hit $1 billion amid a rise in the popularity of meme tokens. “For a few, speculation on meme coins has led to massive profits, but that doesn’t come without risks too, sometimes meme coin frenzies even precede broad declines in Bitcoin and Ethereum,” the article added.

Like most meme tokens, PEPE founders are anonymous. The token is described as a deflationary meme coin based on Ethereum. The meme project reportedly has three phases in its roadmap, including listing on CoinMarketCap and making the token trend on X. The project’s team also seeks to list on centralized exchanges.