In 2026, PEPE got off to a strong start. The popular meme coin PEPE, inspired by the frog Pepe, recorded an increase of over 20% on the second day of the new year.
What are the factors behind this rise? Moreover, does this momentum indicate the arrival of the 'meme season' in early 2026?
Mr. James Wynn predicts that the market capitalization of PEPE will reach 69 billion dollars by 2026
James Wynn, a well-known trader in hyperliquidity, predicted that PEPE's market capitalization could reach a maximum of 69 billion dollars by the end of 2026. This forecast invigorated investor sentiment and led to significant buying.
When PEPE's market cap was only $600,000, Mr. Win believed it would grow to a multi-billion dollar asset. He reportedly made millions from this trade, and all transaction records are recorded on-chain.
In a recent view, Mr. Win compared PEPE to SHIB. SHIB is a token that skyrocketed from a market cap of $3.5 billion to $41 billion in less than a month during the previous cycle. According to Mr. Win, PEPE's social metrics are stronger than SHIB's, suggesting it may achieve similar performance.
"Now, I predict that PEPE will grow from $1.7 billion to over $69 billion in 2026. If I am wrong, I will delete my account" - Prediction by James Win.
According to price charts, shortly after Mr. Win posted his prediction, PEPE rose by about 20%. Currently, PEPE's market cap is around $2 billion. If Mr. Win's prediction materializes, the price is expected to expand approximately 35 times from its current level.
Mr. Win's PEPE trades did not go smoothly. During the decline of PEPE since July, he took long positions with high leverage and suffered multiple liquidations.
On the other hand, analyst Mr. SÎA explained that the rise of PEPE is due to the U.S. tax system, particularly due to tax-loss harvesting.
According to Mr. SÎA, many U.S. investors were holding unrealized losses by the end of 2025 and sold at the last minute. This turned 'unrealized losses' into 'realized losses', reducing their tax burden.
As the new tax year of 2026 begins, bullish investors in PEPE quickly bought back positions. The 24-hour trading volume of PEPE surpassed $600 million, reaching its highest level in the past month (according to CoinGecko).
Multiple meme coins spiked in early 2026, reigniting the meme boom.
Along with PEPE, several other meme coins also saw significant price increases in early 2026. For example, Milady Cult Coin (CULT) doubled in price after Vitalik Buterin said, 'Milady is back' and changed his avatar to Milady. Floki (FLOKI) also showed a 10% rebound.
"God Candle PEPE. The meme season is fully upon us. PEPE always leads in bullish indicators" - Investor POÎ's prediction.
However, aside from these sudden spikes, most meme coins have continued to decline by 70% to 90% from last year's highs.
According to CryptoQuant data, the dominance of meme coins remains low, and no clear recovery trend is observed.
"'Meme coins are dead' â everything else is down. Literally, all altcoins are declining, and not just memes, the overall market is weak. It is still unclear whether this rebound will take hold. Bitcoin shows no strength, and the market could easily fall again. However, if altcoins show signs of risk-on, memes react the quickest." - Investor CRG's comment.
The controversy surrounding meme coins continues. Cautious investors focus on altcoins with strong fundamentals, while other investors claim that meme coins play a central role in the attention economy. Supporters believe that meme coins attract individual investors and promote overall market cap growth.
