Move over Dogecoin: Memecoin PepeCoin jumps 7,000% since its 16 April debut

Move over Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, there is a new memecoin on the block. PepeCoin is the new memecoin hitting the market with stratospheric gains.

PepeCoin, inspired by a frog named 'Pepe', which often features ininternet memes, leapt nearly 7,000 percent in the 17 days after its April 16 launch, hitting a market value of $1.8 billion by May 5.

PepeCoin is a memecoin -- coins based on popular internet memes. Memecoins came into prominence through dogecoin, which has been patronised by Twitter owner Elon Musk.

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PepeCoin's performance has sparked renewed investor interest in memecoin categoryas a whole. Their overall trading volumes have jumped to $2.6 billion in the first week of May from $408,000 the week before.

However, market players have warned that traders and investors could get badly burned by memecoins. They argue that they lack practical use beyond speculation, distinguishing them from more mainstream coins like bitcoin and ether.

Regulatory fears

Recently, crypto prices cameunder selling pressure after investors weighed a news report about two of the biggest institutional liquidity providers dialing back their crypto-trading businesses in the United States.

Jane Street and Jump Crypto, two of the biggest crypto market makers, have said they will take a step back from crypto trading in the United States, where regulators continue their crackdown on the nascent industry.

Just a few months back, the US Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, had issued a joint statement warning banks of the liquidity risks associated with banking crypto firms.

(With agency inputs)