MOG, PEPE Rocket as Traders Search for Ether Beta Bets

Meme coins are increasingly seen as a way to bet on the growth of the network they are issued on.

Surging interest in ether (ETH)-based meme coin tokens appears to be a recent trend among traders, who are increasingly viewing the tokens as a way to bet on the growth of the network they are issued on.

This comes as several Bloomberg analysts raised their odds on the approval of spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S.

On Monday, analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart updated the odds to 75% from 20%, causing a market-wide upswing.

Ether rose over 17%, while bitcoin retook the $71,000 mark for the first time since early April.

Several tokens, including dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB), saw gains, while meme coins enjoyed a particularly strong day.

The cat-themed mog (MOG) token, a reference to a popular TikTok meme, rose nearly 50% while the frog-themed pepe (PEPE) surged more than 20%.

Both were initially issued on Ethereum in 2023 and have since become mainstays.

“Established memes are generally high beta for the native token of the chain they’re on, and Mog has established itself as a winner on Ethereum while still trading at a fraction of the next biggest meme (Pepe),” Viro, a Mog core team member, told CoinDesk in an interview over Telegram.

“I think the market sees that there’s quite a lot of room to catch up to Pepe, and that’s why you see the outperformance. If you think memes are good beta; you’ll go for the higher caps like pepe or you’ll slide further down the curve for mog.”

The focus on meme coins as a way of betting on growth isn't unique to Ethereum.

Several Solana-based meme coin tokens surged from December to March as the network’s SOL tokens took off – contributing to ecosystem growth and attention.

Also in December, the Avalanche Foundation, a non-profit 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 that such tokens can drive among investors.