PEPE rose 20% after James Wynn made a bold forecast for 2026

Start 2026 strong for PEPE, the popular meme coin inspired by Pepe the Frog. On the second day of the new year, the price of PEPE increased by more than 20%.

What is driving this increase, and is the momentum strong enough to launch meme season in early 2026?

Sponsored

Sponsored

James Wynn expects the market value of PEPE to reach $69 billion by 2026

James Wynn, a famous HyperLiquid trader, recently predicted that the PEPE market will be worth $69 billion by the end of 2026. This prediction inflamed the investor community and led to intense buying.

When PEPE’s market capitalization was only $600,000, Wayne believed it could become a multi-billion dollar asset. He said he made tens of millions of dollars from this deal, with all the activities recorded On blockchain.

In his last sight, to compare Where is PEPE and Shiba inu, the token that grew from $3.5 billion to $41 billion in less than a month during the previous cycle? According to Wayne, PEPE’s social indicators are much stronger, indicating the potential for similar performance.

James Wynn predicted: Now, I hope PEPE goes from $1.7 billion to more than $69 billion by 2026 or it will wipe out my account. to wait.

Sponsored

Sponsored

The price charts show that shortly after Wayne published his prediction, the price of PEPE rose by about 20%. Currently, PEPE’s market capitalization is around $2 billion. Wayne’s predictions include that the price of PEPE could increase about 35 times from its current levels.

Wayne’s journey with PEPE has not always been easy. During the decline in the price of PEPE since July, he opened long leveraged trades and …It has been subjected to many qualifications.

At the same time, explain Analyst SΞA said PEPE’s growth was driven by the impact of US tax rules, particularly tax loss taking.

SΞA noted that at the end of 2025, many American investors faced losses and chose to sell at the last minute. This converted “paper losses” into “realized losses” to reduce their tax burden.

Sponsored

Sponsored

With the start of the new fiscal year in 2026, investors who remain optimistic about PEPE rushed to immediately buy their positions. According to CoinGecko, PEPE’s trading volume exceeded 24 hours 600 million dollarsregistered The highest level During the past month.

Several meme coins are rising in early 2026, raising hopes for a meme season

Along with PEPE, many other meme coins saw strong gains at the beginning of 2026. For example, the price of Milady Cult Coin (CULT) doubled. twice After Vitalik said That “Milady is back” And change her profile picture to Milady’s. Also, FLOKI recovered. from 10%.

Investor expectation POΞ “God Candles PEPE. The season full of memes is here. Pepe is always on top of the rising meme trends.”

Sponsored

Sponsored

Despite these individual increases, they remain Most of the meme coins Down between 70%-90% from its peaks last year.

CryptoQuant data indicates that memecoin dominance remains at low levels, with no clear signs of recovery.

said investor CRG That “‘Meme coins are dead’ → Everything is dead. Practically all altcoins are dead, not only memes. Whether this rebound will continue is still to be seen. BTC has not shown any strength yet, because the market could retreat quickly. However, memes are often the fastest horse when there is a sign of risk even with altcoins”.

The statement of the history of meme coins continued to generate controversy. While cautious investors focus In altcoins with strong fundamentalsOthers argue that meme currencies occupy… A central position in the economy of attention. Supporters believe it attracts individual investors and helps drive overall market capitalization growth.