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Two Ethereum ecosystem tokens, PEPE and MOG, climbed to new highs thanks to the approval of US ether ETF deposits, with traders viewing them as beta bets.
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Futures open interest for the tokens increased, indicating new money is entering the market, although the long-to-short ratio for PEPE indicates traders are betting on further price increases.
Two Ethereum ecosystem tokens soared to record highs on Monday, fueled by last week’s approval of major ether {{ETH}} exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings in the US, which convinced some traders to beta meme tokens consider.
Frog-themed Pepe {{PEPE}} and cat-themed mog (MOG) rose 11% and 45% respectively over the past 24 hours as the beta bet showed no signs of slowing down. A beta bet is a way to gain exposure to an important asset by investing in related networks or protocols. PEPE spot and futures trading volumes reached over $1.8 billion, compared to a more typical range of $400 million to $600 million.
The gains came as ether rose nearly 5% over the same period, leading the advance among major tokens as bitcoin {{BTC}} fell 1%. The broad CoinDesk 20 {{CD20}}, an index of the largest tokens minus stablecoins, lost 0.3%.
Futures data shows that open interest in Pepe and Mog tracked instruments has increased over the past 24 hours. PEPE’s open interest rose to $720 million from last week’s $550 million, while for MOG the figure rose from $5 million to $8.3 million. Rising open interest is considered a sign of new money entering the market, which could be a harbinger of further price volatility.
However, a long-short ratio for PEPE is skewed in favor of bears at 54%, according to data from Coinalyze, which shows traders are shorting or betting against further price increases.
As CoinDesk reported last week, traders have been considering PEPE and MOG as a way to gain exposure to ether. A rally in the two tokens began as analysts raised the odds that ether ETFs would be approved for trading in the US
PEPE even zeroed in on the 20 largest tokens with a market cap of over $6 billion, making some early investors millions of dollars with an initial purchase of just $460.
Since 2023, meme tokens – which are typically considered to have no intrinsic value, but nevertheless enjoy a huge following – have recently gained popularity as a beta bet on whatever ecosystem they are based on.
Various Solana-based meme coin tokens increased from December to March when the network’s SOL tokens took off – contributing to the growth of the ecosystem and attracting attention. Also in December, the Avalanche Foundation, a nonprofit organization that maintains the Avalanche blockchain, said it would invest in meme tokens built on the network in recognition of the online culture and memetic value such tokens can generate among investors.
