Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX, has recently made waves in the cryptocurrency community with a significant investment in the memecoin sector, specifically through his purchase of Pepe (PEPE). Hayes’ enthusiasm for memecoins, articulated in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), has coincided with a remarkable rise in the value of PEPE, highlighting a broader renewed interest in the crypto market.
On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain disclosed that Hayes invested $250,000 in PEPE, acquiring approximately 24.39 billion tokens on Binance last Friday. This investment has come at a time when PEPE is enjoying an upward trajectory, hitting its highest price in nearly three months at $0.0000109. Data from CoinGecko indicates the token has achieved impressive gains of 34%, 45%, and 38% over the past week, fortnight, and month, respectively. The recent surge in PEPE’s price is further bolstered by a significant increase in trading volume, which spiked by 41% in the last 48 hours to nearly $2.5 billion.
This rise in trading activity reflects heightened investor interest, likely driven by a positive sentiment following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates on September 18, creating a favorable environment for various cryptocurrencies, including memecoins. Currently trading at $0.0000107, PEPE has risen 17% in the latest trading hours, though it remains down 37% from its all-time high of $0.0000171 in May. Nevertheless, Hayes’ endorsement appears to be a catalyst for ongoing investor interest in PEPE.
Hayes’ involvement in the memecoin space goes beyond PEPE. He has also expressed support for two other tokens: Mog Coin (MOG) and the Mother Iggy (MOTHER) token, which is associated with Australian singer Iggy Azalea and built on the Solana blockchain. While Lookonchain has not confirmed whether Hayes invested in these tokens as he did with PEPE, his endorsement has already had a positive impact on MOG’s price. MOG is currently trading at $0.00000165, marking a gain of over 10% since Hayes’ announcement. Additionally, MOG has shown a massive year-to-date increase of 10,398%, along with a 5.70% rise in trading volume, although it remains 32% below its peak of $0.0000024 reached in July.
Conversely, the MOTHER token has faced challenges in maintaining its momentum, trading down nearly 14% in the past 24 hours. Despite this decline, it has achieved substantial gains of 75% over the last week and 176% in the past two weeks, indicating that it remains a valuable asset despite recent volatility.
Overall, Hayes’ support for the memecoin sector underscores the growing traction that this part of the market has gained over the past year, outperforming larger cryptocurrencies by a significant margin. The recent price trends and trading volumes highlight the increasing investor interest and market dynamics driving memecoins to new heights.
