Crypto Climbs as Memes Rally; Pepe +67%; Infinex Founder Q&A

Meme coins lead early 2026 crypto rebound as PEPE jumps and majors trade higher

The first trading week of 2026 opened with broad gains across crypto markets, with meme coins and several AI-linked tokens posting the strongest moves.

The global crypto market capitalization reached $3.16 trillion, up 1.5%, as major assets traded higher. Bitcoin rose about 2% to $93,000, while Ether gained 1% to $3,175. BNB added 2.5% to $906 and Solana was up 1% to $135.

Meme coins stood out as the leading performers. Pepe (PEPE) rose roughly 70% over the past seven days, putting it at the top of the weekly leaderboard among large-cap meme tokens. The token also logged nearly $1.6 billion in 24-hour trading volume.

Other meme coins also moved higher, with Bonk (BONK), FLOKI (FLOKI), Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), SPX6900 (SPX), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) joining the list of top performers over the week. In the last 24 hours, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and PUMP were also up between 8.4% and 10.9%, alongside PEPE as period leaders.

The rally followed a difficult year for the category: meme tokens as a group lost more than half their value last year, and several individual projects remain down 70%–90% from prior peaks, according to the information provided. Data cited from CryptoQuant also indicated memecoin dominance remained low, with no clear evidence of a sustained recovery.

In derivatives markets, PEPE’s rapid move triggered forced buying pressure. CoinGlass data showed nearly $9.9 million in PEPE short positions were liquidated over the last 24 hours, following a 34% daily increase cited in the provided materials.

Market participants pointed to a combination of macro and crypto-specific drivers. Kairos Research cofounder Ian Unsworth said investors had been watching for positive signals around the Iranian conflict ending and for a constructive outlook around the CLARITY act, which he said helped lift sentiment. Separately, Privy strategist Simon Shockey said parts of the altcoin market had been “very oversold” after a bug discovered in Zcash weighed on confidence.

Outside meme coins, several AI-related and other tokens also posted sharp gains. Among the top movers mentioned were Virtuals (+24%), Render (+17%), BTT (+11%), and FET (+11%). Even so, meme coins “clearly outperformed” most other crypto sectors during the opening stretch of the year, including AI tokens, based on the performance snapshots provided.

Institutional flows also improved early in the year. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $471 million in net inflows on the first trading day of 2026, the highest single-day total since Nov. 11, according to the provided snippet.

In the policy and industry backdrop, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw officially departed the agency on Jan. 2, leaving an all-Republican commission. Separately, PwC said it plans to expand its crypto work with a focus on stablecoins and payments.

While the start-of-year gains have drawn attention, the information provided also emphasized that crypto markets remain volatile and uncertainty is still high, with meme coins carrying particularly elevated risk due to their sensitivity to liquidity and positioning.