Meme Coin Mania: PEPE Approaches ATH Following 200% Pump as NuggetRush Prepares for Launch

The last few days in the crypto industry, one may think that Bitcoin approaching the $60k mark would be the hottest story. However, it seems meme coins are stealing the spotlight lately. 

PEPE is up almost 200% in the last 7 days, while BONK has surged nearly 50% over the same period. At the same time, a new meme coin called NuggetRush brings intriguing utility and prepares for its official launch after a successful presale.

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PEPE Price Pumps

As mentioned, PEPE has rocketed almost 200% this week and 55% just today to trade around $0.0000032 at press time. The current market cap sits at around $1.3 billion, with PEPE nearing its all-time high at about $0.0000035 set in May last year.

An analysis of the PEPE/USDT chart shows the coin traded in a descending channel (blue lines on the chart) since early December 2023. However, a few days ago, the price broke out of this channel and entered “discovery mode,” which means it can skyrocket to find new ranges. PEPE did precisely that, jumping 200% since then.

The 200-day moving average currently sits at around $0.00001, indicating that despite the recent pumps, PEPE still has more room to run in the long term. The 9-period DEMA recently closed at around $0.000029, suggesting the price may find support here on any pullbacks. 

At the same time, the daily RSI reads 55, meaning PEPE is not overbought yet and more upside could occur.

Pepe Whale Movements

As per the prominent on-chain analytics platform SpotOnChain, as the PEPE price climbed over 130% recently, some smart PEPE traders took advantage of the pump. Each has raked in at least $490K in realized or unrealized profit.

• SpotOnChain reported that dormant wallet 0xe58 withdrew 1.03T PEPE from Binance, worth $1.41M at the time, on February 25 and 26, 2024. This address had lied inactive for 650 days (1.8 years) before making those withdrawals. Currently, wallet 0xe58’s PEPE holdings equal around $2.74M, suggesting an unrealized profit of $1.40M (+99%).
• Another wallet (0xd9b) purchased 501.3B PEPE at $0.051372 ($688K) on February 25, 2023. SpotOnChain reports that 0xd9b's PEPE stake now stands at $1.37M, indicating an unrealized profit of $685K (+100%). However, this address has traded PEPE once before, incurring a small $12K loss previously.
• SpotOnChain identified a third wallet (0xa145) that deposited 486.72B PEPE worth $1.03M to Binance on February 27, 2024. Notably, this wallet had withdrawn the same amount of PEPE from Binance in the past at only $544K. Selling now would net the holder around $490K (+90%) profit.
• Five linked wallets deposited 1.5T PEPE to Binance on February 27, 2024, worth $3.19M at the time. As per SpotOnChain, these addresses withdrew the PEPE two months ago for only $1.79M. Cashing out their accumulated tokens on Binance today would score $1.40M (+78.5%) profit in nearly two months.

Growing Interest in Meme Coins

As per the analytics platform Santiment, meme coins like PEPE are enjoying increased popularity recently, even as crypto markets remain relatively flat. 

Investors should watch fast-rising assets like PEPE (+63%), FLOKI (+44%), and WIF (+43%), as hype-induced FOMO often represents warning signs for broader crypto sentiment.

NuggetRush (NUGX) Launch Nears

NuggetRush offers a blend of gaming, NFT staking, and philanthropy focused on underprivileged miners globally. While branded as a meme coin, NUGX incorporates tangible utility beyond speculation.

The project centers on a Play to Earn game about gold mining. Users can build mining operations by hiring workers, renting equipment, and selling mined resources for profit. More complex tasks provide higher rewards, incentivizing players to hone their skills and partner with others to achieve economies of scale.

NuggetRush will also launch an NFT marketplace for unique digital collectibles related to its mining metaverse. Special NFTs called RUSHGEMS represent virtual gems discoverable in-game. Some rare RUSHGEMS can even be redeemed for physical gold bars, bridging digital and real-world assets.

The gaming avatars are NFTs tradable on the marketplace alongside other rare items and digitally mined minerals mirroring real-world commodities. So far, over 201 million NUGX tokens have sold in five presale rounds, raising $2.3 million. The current token price is $0.018, while the listing price is $0.020. Just six days remain in the presale based on the project's website.

Conclusion

As meme coins grab attention in the last few days, legacy projects like Bitcoin prepare for the upcoming halving in April, and new crypto gaming models like NuggetRush prepare to launch, the crypto industry seems headed for another active phase. 

Investors should watch for signs of unsustainable growth fueled purely by hype, as warnings of broader sentiment shifts. At the same time, the incorporation of real utility into new crypto projects provides hope for a more balanced, healthy crypto ecosystem in the future. As always, investors should apply careful due diligence before aping into the latest hot crypto assets.

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This post was authored by an external contributor and does not represent Benzinga’s opinions and has not been edited for content. This contains sponsored content and is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Cryptocurrency is a volatile market; do your independent research and only invest what you can afford to lose. New token launches and small market capitalization coins are inherently more risky than large cap cryptocurrencies. These tokens are subject to larger liquidity and market risks.