The yr 2026 has begun strongly for PEPE, the favored meme coin impressed by Pepe the Frog. On the second day of the brand new yr, PEPE’s value elevated by greater than 20%.
What’s driving this rally, and is the momentum robust sufficient to kick off a meme season in early 2026?
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James Wynn Predicts PEPE Market Cap Reaching $69 Billion in 2026
James Wynn, a widely known dealer on Hyperliquid, lately predicted that PEPE might attain a market capitalization of as much as $69 billion by the top of 2026. The forecast has energized the funding neighborhood and triggered heavy shopping for.
When PEPE’s market cap stood at simply $600,000, Wynn believed it might develop right into a multi-billion-dollar asset. He reportedly earned tens of tens of millions of {dollars} from the commerce, with all exercise recorded on-chain.
In his newest outlook, Wynn in contrast PEPE to SHIB, a token that surged from $3.5 billion to $41 billion in beneath one month in the course of the earlier cycle. In accordance with Wynn, PEPE’s social metrics are considerably stronger, suggesting it might obtain an analogous efficiency.
“Now, I’m calling PEPE to go from $1.7 billion to $69 billion+ in 2026 or I delete my account.” – James Wynn predicted.
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Value charts present that shortly after Wynn posted his prediction, PEPE’s value climbed practically 20%. At present, PEPE’s market capitalization is roughly $2 billion. Wynn’s forecast implies that PEPE’s value might rise virtually 35 instances its present ranges.
Wynn’s journey with PEPE has not at all times been easy. Throughout PEPE’s value decline from July onward, he opened extremely leveraged lengthy positions and suffered a number of liquidations.
In the meantime, analyst SΞA defined that PEPE’s rally was pushed by the affect of US tax guidelines, particularly tax-loss harvesting.
SΞA famous that on the finish of 2025, many U.S. traders have been sitting on losses and selected to promote on the final minute. This transformed “paper losses” into “realized losses” to scale back their tax burden.
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As the brand new 2026 tax yr started, traders who remained bullish on PEPE rushed to purchase again their positions instantly. PEPE’s 24-hour buying and selling quantity surpassed $600 million, marking the very best stage previously month, based on CoinGecko.
A number of Meme Cash Rally in Early 2026, Reviving Hopes of a Meme Season
Alongside PEPE, a number of different meme cash posted robust features initially of 2026. Milady Cult Coin (CULT), for instance, doubled in value after Vitalik said “Milady is again” and adjusted his avatar to a Milady picture. Floki (FLOKI) additionally rebounded by 10%.
“God candles PEPE. Full blow meme season loading. Pepe at all times leads for bullis meme indicators.” – Investor POΞ predicted.
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Regardless of these remoted surges, most meme cash stay down 70%–90% from their peaks final yr.
CryptoQuant knowledge point out that memecoin dominance stays at low ranges, with no clear indicators of restoration but.
“‘Memecoins died’ → the whole lot died. Actually all altcoins died, not simply memes. Whether or not this bounce sticks stays to be seen. BTC has not proven any energy but, so the market might simply bart straight again down. Nonetheless, memes are normally the quickest horse when even altcoins present the slightest risk-on sign.” – Investor CRG mentioned.
The meme coin narrative continues to spark debate. Whereas cautious traders give attention to altcoins with robust fundamentals, others argue that meme cash occupy a central place within the consideration financial system. Supporters consider they entice retail traders and assist drive general market capitalization development.