Gemini Becomes Top Pepe Holder Shortly After Listing

Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange co-founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has surged into the top 50 holders of the meme-based cryptocurrency Pepe (Pepe) less than 24 hours after listing it on their platform.

A tweet from Jason Cline, a cryptocurrency analyst, indicated that an estimated 748 billion Pepe tokens, valued at roughly $1.3 million, had been deposited into Gemini accounts.

The swift uptick in Pepe holdings on Gemini underscores the continuing appeal of meme-based digital currencies, a trend initially sparked by Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Pepe, a token built on the Ethereum blockchain, was introduced to the cryptocurrency market in April. Capitalizing on the meme trend, Pepe takes its name from the controversial “Pepe the Frog” character.

Cline also noted in a subsequent tweet that he believes Gemini’s competitor, Coinbase, is “out of touch with reality,” and suggested that the platform will struggle to catch up with Gemini and other exchanges in terms of listing Pepe. Cline posited that Robinhood, another popular trading platform, would likely list Pepe before Coinbase due to their need to capitalize on the meme coin’s popularity.

This analysis comes amid the backdrop of large-scale sell-offs of Pepe on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, where large holders, or “whales,” reportedly cashed in their holdings following the coin’s listing.

Despite concerns about the volatile nature of meme-based cryptocurrencies, the market cap for Pepe has soared to over $1.6 billion, according to CoinGecko data. This sudden surge has drawn the attention of many speculators, but the token is already down 56% from its peak.