The memecoin market has experienced substantial losses since the October 2025 crash, with the sector losing approximately $47 billion in value, representing roughly 65% of the market's total. Both PEPE and SHIB have been affected by the broader downturn.
Using September 30, 2025, as a reference point, PEPE's market cap dropped from $3.84 billion to $2.26 billion, a decline of roughly $1.58 billion or 40%. SHIB experienced steeper losses, falling from $7.05 billion to $2.60 billion, a decline of approximately $4.45 billion or 60%.
The growing performance gap has sparked speculation that PEPE could overtake SHIB in market capitalization. PEPE has recovered more than 60% from its early Q3 2026 low of $0.000003, while SHIB has fallen more than 60% from its October peak of $0.000012. PEPE has declined 44% from $0.000009.
Recent Trading Activity
PEPE has experienced several notable movements in recent weeks. On October 18, the token rose 4.7% after a wallet linked to Tron founder Justin Sun received 7.2 trillion tokens. Arkham Intelligence subsequently identified that nearly 3% of PEPE's total supply was held in Sun-linked wallets, making him the largest individual holder.
On October 22, PEPE gained 6% as futures volume approached $900 million. On October 30, the attacker responsible for hacking Binance sold 7.77 trillion PEPE tokens valued at approximately $31.7 million. Despite this large sale, the token recovered quickly as buyers entered the market. On November 9, PEPE surged over 4% in a single hour, indicating renewed trading interest.
Technical analysis shows PEPE's strength extending beyond its performance relative to SHIB. The PEPE/BTC ratio has broken through key resistance levels despite broader market uncertainty, suggesting relative strength against Bitcoin.
Outlook
PEPE has demonstrated resilience amid heavy selling pressure and wider market declines. Sustained outperformance against SHIB could position PEPE to become the second-largest memecoin by market cap.
