As the new year began, PEPE, the popular meme coin inspired by Pepe the Frog, surprised the market with a sharp rally. On January 2, 2026, PEPE coin price jumped around 26%, trading near $0.000005106, while its 24-hour trading volume surged past $800 million.
This sudden move caught many traders off guard, raising questions about what sparked the rally.
One key reason behind PEPE’s rise is strong buying from small investors. Data shows that Robinhood users now hold around 8.3% of PEPE’s total supply. This means many retail traders are still buying and holding the token instead of selling during short-term price moves.
Additionally, social media hype played a big role. The official PEPE account posted the message “We ride at dawn,” which quickly spread across crypto Twitter and helped boost market confidence.
In the past 24hours, PEPE’s trading volume jumped more than 370% in 24 hours, crossing $805 million. This kind of volume spike usually points to new buyers entering the market, not just slow price movement caused by low liquidity.
Another factor pushing PEPE higher is short liquidations. After weeks of sideways price action, many traders were betting on a drop. When PEPE suddenly moved up, these short positions were forced to close, creating extra buying pressure. Nearly $2.65 million worth of short positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours.
Overall, PEPE saw total liquidations of about $3.13 million, with around 83% coming from short traders. This wave of forced buying helped fuel the sharp price jump.
Recently, James Wynn, a well-known trader on Hyperliquid, made a bold prediction about PEPE’s future. He believes the meme coin’s market cap could climb to $69 billion by the end of 2026, a nearly 32x jump from its current level of around $2.14 billion.
According to Wynn, PEPE’s social metrics are significantly stronger, suggesting it could achieve a similar performance.
“Now, I’m calling PEPE to go from $1.7 billion to $69 billion in 2026, or I delete my account.”
If Wynn’s forecast plays out, PEPE’s price could rally toward $0.000163 by the end of the year.
PEPE is rising due to strong retail buying, viral social media hype, a 370% surge in trading volume, and forced short liquidations.
Yes, retail traders are a key driver. Robinhood users reportedly hold over 8% of PEPE’s supply, showing strong holding behavior.
If bullish momentum continues, PEPE could reach $0.00016 in 2026, assuming strong social hype and sustained demand.
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