Ethereum-based memecoin Pepe (PEPE) surged 27% to a new all-time high over the past 24 hours driven by speculation around the potential United States approval of spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETF).
“PEPE is probably the best memecoin play for the ETH ETF,” crypto trader Matthew Hyland claimed in a May 21 X post.
Pseudonymous crypto trader “Kaleo” added it was funny how ETH is moving and PEPE is now one of the most obvious hindsight trades out there.”
Ether is up 23.28% over the past two days to $3,785 amid renewed hope that the Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to approve Ether ETFs by a May 23 deadline — an unexpected turn of events for analysts and the crypto industry.
PEPE is trading at $0.00001387 up 23.48% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
PEPE is up 22.25% over the past seven days. Source: CoinMarketCap
Pseudonymous crypto trader “Plazma” thinks PEPE’s upward trend will continue but expects brief volatile periods along the way.
“PEPE price discovery should continue for the next few weeks with some normal breaks for a few days and the usual pullbacks. We will be at 2x-3x in just a few weeks,” they wrote in a May 21 X post.
Meanwhile, PEPE’s Open Interest (OI) — measuring the total value of all outstanding PEPE futures contracts across crypto exchanges — rose 40% to $172.96 million over the past 24 hours, per CoinGlass data.
An OI rise usually indicates traders are more confident entering future positions on a cryptocurrency, with the data showing a significant number in long positions.
PEPE's price spike over the past 24 hours saw $6 million in short positions liquidated. Source: CoinGlass
If PEPE’s price drops 6% it would liquidate $10 million in long positions.
Related: Ethereum price soars on spot ETF rumor — How are ETH options markets positioned?
PEPE led in price growth among the top 10 memecoins by market capitalization over the past 24 hours, but other top memecoins also saw significant price jumps over the past week.
BONK (BONK) is up 40.80% while Floki (FLOKI) is up 21.94% along with Book of Memes (BOME), which is up 25.04% on the week.
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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.