Exploring the Past and Future of Pepe

Author: day | Plain-language Blockchain

In recent years, the Meme track in the cryptocurrency industry has risen rapidly. With the intentional or unintentional promotion by more and more well-known figures such as Musk, Meme has become one of the mainstream tracks and popular narratives in the cryptocurrency world. Many cryptocurrency KOLs, represented by V God, have shifted from initial lack of support to a more relaxed attitude and acknowledgment of its value.

Recently, the popular "Spicy Chicken" Pepe's market value has reached over 4 billion US dollars, and it once exceeded 7 billion US dollars at its peak during this round of meme market. Many people are still unclear about Pepe's background. Today, let's explore how Pepe has come to where it is today…

01 

Pepe's Meme Culture

Looking at the development of Memecoins, most of them use materials with a certain historical background or have a certain popularity on the internet as carriers, and Pepe is no exception. Its name comes from the character Pepe the Frog created by American cartoonist Matt Furie, which first appeared in his work "Boy's Club."

This comic began serialization on MySpace in 2005 and ended in 2010, gaining some attention on the internet. Among the four characters, the frog Pepe (phonetically translated as Pepe) is one of them, and he won affection with his cute image and funny expressions. If you play on the blockchain more, you will also see other three names (Brett, Andy, Wolf) related Memecoins on various chains, most of which have been speculated for a period of time.

Pepe's rise to fame follows a path similar to many internet sensations: it initially gained popularity in subculture forums like 4chan and other niche communities, then caught the attention of social media opinion leaders (KOLs) and went viral. In 2008, it became popular on cultural forums such as Myspace, Gaia Online, and 4chan, and in 2015, it became one of the most popular viral images on the social platform Tumblr.

On social media, the cost of re-creation and dissemination is relatively low, and Pepe's emoticons and internet memes covering all emotions can spread quickly and resonate among a large number of netizens. It was initially a character expressing joy, but with the secondary creation and reinterpretation by internet users, it gradually evolved into a symbol of sadness and despair. This transformation is related to the popularity of self-deprecation and self-mockery in internet culture.

People found resonance in Pepe's sad image and used it as a way to express their inner emotions, especially for self-mockery and expressing the difficulties and setbacks in life. This emoticon is widely used and has become an important symbol in internet culture. The sad frog is also popular in Chinese internet culture and has been selected as one of the "Four Kings of Despair," becoming an important symbol for expressing negative emotions and a miserable mood.

Pepe's image evolution on the internet is a rather complex and multi-faceted phenomenon.

In 2015, the sad frog became associated with racial speech and the U.S. presidential election, and was used to spread extreme messages. Some supporters of Trump used Pepe as their symbol and associated it with anti-political correctness and anti-establishment sentiments. This led to Pepe being misunderstood as a symbol of "Alt-right" and racial hatred.

This misunderstanding further exacerbated the negative impression of Pepe's image, and in order to prevent the sad frog from being further maligned, its creator Matt Furie chose to end it all and kill Pepe.

In fact, even though the sad frog "has died," it still cannot stop its continued popularity among netizens. As a widely used emoticon, everyone can freely use it to express their inner emotions, including sadness or frustration.

02 

Pepe Token

Thanks to the rapid rise in the popularity of Pepe the Frog and extensive media exposure, Pepe Token (PEPE) was born in April 2023, and it quickly became one of the objects of investment for many cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Within just one month, the market value of PEPE exceeded 400 million US dollars, entering the top 100 in cryptocurrency market value.

The original intention of creating PEPE was to resist the complex token economic model of the "Dog series" Memecoins. It aims to return to the entertainment spirit of Memecoins, so it avoids complex operations such as presale, destruction, and taxation in its token economics. The goal of PEPE is to surpass other Memecoins and become a leader in the Memecoin field.

In addition, PEPE also borrowed from the former U.S. President Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" and adapted it to "Make Memecoins Great Again."

PEPE's market operations have adopted some strategies to attract the attention of the cryptocurrency community, including formulating tax-free policies, a redistribution system that rewards long-term holders, and a destruction deflation mechanism to maintain the scarcity of tokens. PEPE is closely linked to the MAGA (Make America Great Again) culture and attempts to transform this development into a narrative driving force for token growth.

Currently, the development of PEPE has exceeded the team's expectations. After being listed on BN and adjusting, it has started to rise again. Its market value recently exceeded 7 billion US dollars in the short term, and there has been a recent decline. This recent surge should also have some connection with Trump's cryptocurrency remarks. From the above understanding, we can see that Pepe's development is also closely related to Trump.

03 

Why Can Pepe Rise

Before PEPE came out, many "tugou" (Chinese meme coins) came out, but only the current Pepe has reached the current height. Let's briefly summarize how PEPE has come to today:

PEPE attracted the attention of some large holders and teams in the early stages. These large holders analyzed the flow of funds on DEX and discovered the potential of PEPE, and began to build positions. In addition, some early buyers also hold NFT related to PEPE, which may be related to the initial team. Additionally, the PEPE team blacklisted addresses that made huge profits by buying PEPE at extremely low prices in the early stages, and then abandoned contract permissions.

On Twitter, discussions about PEPE suddenly increased on April 17th, and some small and medium-sized key opinion leaders (KOLs) began to discuss and promote PEPE, sparking discussions on social media. At the end of April, Google searches also began to rise, indicating that PEPE was beginning to attract broader attention.

Shortly after the launch of PEPE Token, it quickly went online on several CEX/DEX platforms, including Gate, OKEx, MEXC, and BN. These listings were accompanied by a rise in token prices. After being listed on BN, some users took profits, combined with reports of team cashing out and uneven team distribution, leading to a significant decline in PEPE. After a six-month adjustment, with the intensification of anti-VC rhetoric, the heat of the Meme track surged again, and PEPE re-broke new highs, showing a trend of becoming the new leader in the Meme track.

In summary:

Team: The team has super strong capabilities and a top-notch marketing team. In the early stages, they collaborated with influential KOLs for promotion and utilized resources from the exchange.

Wealth stories spread: The wealth stories of early PEPE holders spread on social media and in the cryptocurrency community. These stories involved PEPE holders making huge profits in a short period, sparking the interest and curiosity of others.

FOMO sentiment: After experiencing the crazy rise of meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, people have been looking for the next potential skyrocketing token. The emergence and rapid growth of PEPE triggered a fear of missing out, with people afraid of missing the opportunity for another hundredfold or thousandfold Memecoin. This fear of missing out led to more and more people buying PEPE, creating a self-reinforcing cycle. PEPE attracted over 100,000 holding addresses in less than a month.

CEX/DEX promotion: Trading platforms played an important role in the development of PEPE. PEPE quickly went online on some well-known platforms, such as MEXC, BN, OKX, and HTX. The heat attracted the attention of trading platforms, leading to more users and funds flowing into PEPE.

The above are the reasons I have learned about why PEPE has been able to rise. From this, it can be seen that the gameplay of some Memecoins is similar to it. If you have a different opinion, feel free to leave a comment to supplement.

04 

Conclusion

Twitter KOL neso summarized the decisive factors in the growth of Meme at various market value stages, as shown in the following figure:

Do you agree with his point of view? Do you think that when Pepe's market value reached over 40 billion, it is still controlled by a small group of people? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

Original article link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/07/5278.html

Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/KAuk_mSsCkYyCvOCTNfqFg

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