Pope Leo XIV-Themed Memecoins Surge After US-Born Robert Francis Prevost Becomes Rome's New Bishop

Memecoins inspired by Pope Leo XIV surged on Thursday after the U.S.-born priest was elected as the new global head of the Catholic Church.

What happened: Solana SOL/USD-based POPE267 skyrocketed 1080% in the last 24 hours, raking in a market capitalization of over $60 million, according to CoinMarketCap. Over $14 million worth of tokens were transacted in the last 24 hours.

The memecoin refers to Leo XIV’s election as the Catholic Church’s 267th leader.

Similarly, a memecoin called POPE69, which mentions his age, popped 180% to a market valuation of $741,630.

Note that these tokens operated at thin liquidity and could only be traded on Solana-based decentralized exchanges. CoinMarketCap issued a disclaimer stating that the memecoins have yet to be validated and urged traders to DYOR.

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Why It Matters: The upsurge followed the election of Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, as the new Pope, succeeding the late Pope Francis.

Prevost, the first American pope, was widely regarded as a long shot for the papacy.

In his remarks on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, Leo XIV called for the church to "build bridges" while paying tribute to Pope Francis.

Benzinga Note: Investing in meme coins with thin liquidity can be highly speculative and involve significant risk. Such meme coins may lack intrinsic value and can be driven by market sentiment, social media trends and prone to high fluctuations

Photo Courtesy: Marco Iacobucci Epp On Shutterstock.com

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