Meme coins have experienced a meteoric rise in recent years. Two of the most prominent examples are FLOKI Inu and PEPE the Frog.

FLOKI Inu launched in 2021, drawing inspiration from Elon Musk's Shiba Inu dog. It quickly gained traction due to its strong community and aggressive marketing strategies.

PEPE burst onto the scene in 2023 and quickly became the third-largest meme coin by market cap, surpassing $5.5 billion. 

Today, we examine how these two tokens differ and which potentially makes a better investment. 

Origins and Community

Elon Musk is known as the Dogefather due to his viral tweets about DOGE, so it’s unsurprising that meme coin enthusiasts took inspiration from Musk’s Shiba Inu dog named Floki and launched another Shiba-themed coin. 

The FLOKI Inu community has been actively promoting the coin on social media. The project has also employed various marketing strategies, including partnerships with influencers and celebrities, to expand its reach and attract new investors.

PEPE was inspired by an already popular meme Pepe the Frog and debuted in April 2023. Within a mere three weeks of its launch, the token's market capitalization skyrocketed to over $1 billion. This growth rate significantly outpaced DOGE, which took approximately four years to reach a similar valuation.

Utility

FLOKI

While FLOKI Inu is primarily a meme coin, it has been working to expand its utility and ecosystem. The project has introduced various initiatives aimed at providing real-world value to its token holders.

One such initiative is the development of the FLOKI NFT marketplace, a platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade NFTs. By integrating FLOKI Inu as a payment method, the project aims to increase the token's utility and attract more users to the platform.

Other projects within the FLOKI ecosystem include:

• FlokiFi: A decentralized finance (DeFi) platform offering various financial services, including staking, lending, and yield farming.
• Floki Inu Charity: A charitable arm of the project focused on supporting education and animal welfare initiatives.
• FlokiFrens NFT: A collection of NFT characters that grant holders access to exclusive benefits and community perks.
• Floki Inu Merchandise: A store offering branded merchandise, such as clothing, accessories, and collectibles.
• Floki Inu Academy: An educational platform providing resources and tutorials on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

PEPE

Unlike FLOKI, PEPE is a speculative asset, driven by its memetic appeal and community support. It has no intrinsic value and hinges solely on investor engagement and HODLing. Some hope the project will introduce utility down the road, but there’s no official information regarding it yet. 

Tokenomics and Supply

FLOKI 

FLOKI Inu's tokenomics is designed to support both project development and long-term value for token holders. Currently, 9.6 trillion FLOKI tokens are circulating on both Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain, with a total supply of 10 trillion.

Each transaction involves a 0.3% tax, which is used to fund the growth and development of the Floki Inu ecosystem. This tax rate was reduced from 3% on November 3rd, 2023, by a vote of the FlokiDAO.

To further increase the token's value, Floki Inu employs a burn mechanism. A portion of each transaction fee is used to buy back FLOKI tokens and permanently remove them from circulation. This reduces the overall supply of tokens, potentially increasing their value over time. The FlokiFi platform also contributes to the burn process by using a portion of its fees to burn additional tokens.

PEPE 

Pepe Coin has a massive total supply of 420.69 trillion tokens, ensuring widespread distribution and accessibility. However, a significant portion of the supply (around 75%) is concentrated in the hands of the top 100 holders.

Unlike many cryptocurrencies, Pepe did not have a private sale or pre-sale. Instead, it was fairly launched to the public through Uniswap. 95% of the total supply was made available to the public, while the remaining 5% was allocated to the development team for future use.

To increase the token's value, Pepe employs a deflationary mechanism. This means that 1% of each transaction is automatically burned, permanently removing tokens from circulation. As more tokens are burned, the remaining supply becomes scarcer, potentially driving up the price. This mechanism encourages long-term holding and discourages short-term speculation.

Historical Performance 

FLOKI

FLOKI listed on exchanges in 2021 and reached its all-time high (ATH) in early 2024, surpassing the $0.0003 mark. It currently trades 42% below the ATH, but the overall yearly growth exceeds 548%. FLOKI is the sixth-largest meme coin by market cap ($1.9 billion) and has a 24-hour trading volume of $1.03 billion at the time of writing. 

PEPE

PEPE listed on exchanges in April 2023 and reached its ATH of $0.00001718 in May 2024, currently trading 22% below this level. PEPE’s yearly growth is 1,019%, and the overall increase since listing is 23,274%. PEPE ranks #3 among all meme coins and has a 24-hour trading volume of $4.8 billion at the time of writing. 

Conclusion 

Both FLOKI and PEPE have captured the attention of the crypto community with their unique approaches and rapid growth. While FLOKI has focused on building a comprehensive ecosystem with various utilities, PEPE relies solely on community