Pepecoin captures people's attention by imitating features of other cryptocurrencies based on popular Internet memes. The most well-known is Dogecoin, which uses the famous Shiba Inu dog meme as its logo.
Pepecoin is based on the "Pepe the Frog" meme, created by Matt Furie in his 2005 cartoon "Boys Club". The humanoid frog became a viral meme in the mid-2010s, with singers Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj using it in their tweets.
In 2021, BarnBridge founder Tyler Ward launched a low-resolution collection of Pepe coin NFTs that garnered over USD 60 million in sales on the OpenSea auction platform.
Similarly, the anonymous team behind Pepe coin has capitalized on the current popularity of the meme on Twitter.
They catalyzed early adoption by creating a coordinated meme campaign. At the same time, media outlets published stories about early investors in PEPE, who turned thousands of invested US dollars into millions in a week, inciting more people to join the frenzy.