2026 has started off strongly for PEPE, a popular meme coin inspired by PEPE the Frog. On just the second day of the new year, the price of PEPE surged by over 20%.
What is driving this price surge, and will this momentum be strong enough to usher in a " meme season" as early as 2026?
James Wynn predicts PEPE market Capital will reach $69 billion by 2026.
James Wynn, a well-known trader on the Hyperliquid platform, recently predicted that PEPE could reach a market Capital of up to $69 billion by the end of 2026. This forecast has excited the investment community, and retail investors have rushed to buy heavily.
When PEPE market Capital was only $600,000, Wynn believed it could become a multi-billion dollar asset. According to chain reports, he earned tens of millions of dollars from this single trade.
In its latest analysis, Wynn compares PEPE to SHIB, a Token that surged from a market Capital of $3.5 billion to $41 billion in less than a month during the previous cycle. According to Wynn, PEPE 's social media metrics are now even more impressive and could potentially help it repeat a similar price surge.
“Now, I predict PEPE will grow from $1.7 billion to over $69 billion in 2026, otherwise I will close my account.” – James Wynn predicts .
PEPE price movement in early 2026. Source: TradingViewThe price chart shows that immediately after Wynn posted his prediction, PEPE 's price surged by nearly 20%. Currently, PEPE 's market Capital is around $2 billion. If Wynn's prediction comes true, PEPE price would have to increase nearly 35 times from its current value.
Wynn's investment journey with PEPE was also not easy. When the price of PEPE declined continuously from July onwards, he used high leverage to buy in and was repeatedly liquidated .
Meanwhile, SΞA analysts explained that this surge in PEPE 's price was primarily driven by the impact of US tax laws, specifically the tactic of selling at a loss to reduce taxes.
According to the SΞA, by the end of 2025, many American investors, due to losses, will sell off their holdings at the last minute to convert "paper losses" into "real losses," thereby reducing their tax burden.
As the new 2026 tax year began, investors who still believed in PEPE immediately bought back their positions. PEPE 24-hour volume surpassed $600 million , reaching its highest level in the past month, according to CoinGecko.
Several meme coins are expected to surge in popularity in early 2026, raising hopes for a new meme season.
Besides PEPE, many other meme coins also recorded significant increases in the early days of 2026. For example, Milady Cult Coin (CULT) doubled in value after Vitalik unexpectedly Chia "Milady is back" and changed his profile picture to an image of Milady. FLOKI (FLOKI) also recovered 10% .
“A divine green candle for PEPE. An explosive meme season is coming. PEPE is always the leader whenever the meme market shifts to an uptrend.” – Investor POÞ predicts .
However, despite these notable surges, the majority of meme coins are still down 70%–90% from their all-time highs last year.
Data from CryptoQuant shows that memecoin's market Capital share in the altcoin market remains very low and shows no clear signs of recovery.
“'Memecoin is dead' → actually, everything is down, not just meme but almost all altcoins have fallen sharply. Whether this rebound will last remains to be seen. Bitcoin hasn't shown any strength yet, so the market could completely plummet again. However, meme are usually the group that surges the most whenever altcoins start showing signs of risk.” – Investor CRG Chia .
Memecoin's market share in the altcoin market. Source: CryptoQuant .The story of meme coins continues to be highly debated. While cautious investors focus on altcoins with solid foundations , some argue that meme coins play a crucial Vai in today's attention economy . Supporters believe that meme coins attract retail investors and contribute to the growth of the overall market Capital .
