Crypto analyst Rexha argues PEPE could be the "Shiba Inu of this cycle," predicting a second run on Ethereum that echoes past mega-rallies (Dogecoin ~36,000%, Shiba Inu >1,000,000%), highlighting token performance and potential renewed adoption. Warning: past cycles saw traders chase cheap chains (Solana) and fall to scams like SAFEMOON and PumpFun that drained liquidity; Rexha calls the move a "Return to Quality" but cautions about a possible "Final Extraction" — security and liquidity risk for traders.

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In the bull market cycle of 2021-2022, the Shiba Inu meme coin made waves in a way that changed the face of meme coins forever. This came after Dogecoin’s initial 36,000% rally, and Shiba Inu followed with an over 1,000,000% rally. Naturally, this has led to the search of the meme coin that will replicate Shiba Inu’s move and so far, the verdict has been that it will be the PEPE meme coin. One analyst deep dives into this, elaborating on why PEPE could pull a similar stunt.

Why PEPE Is The Shiba Inu Of This Cycle

Crypto analyst Rexha took to the X (formerly Twitter) platform to discuss the current meme coin market and what investors could expect to come from it. Starting out, they draw out a parallel between the SAFEMOON and active Solana traders chart, showing a similarity between the two. For context, SAFEMOON was one of the meme coins from 2021 that saw a massive run, but eventually turned out to be a scam.

Rexha pointed out that investors are often looking for the next big thing, as was seen back in 2021 after the Dogecoin and Shiba Inu rallies on the Ethereum blockchain. Traders had then moved to ‘cheaper’ blockchains in a bid to chase the next runner, leading to a lot of scams, which the analyst says culminated in SAFEMOON on the BNB Chain.

Eventually, once the scams became too much and many traders were used as exit liquidity, attention shifted back to the meme coins that began the run. At the time, it was Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, as traders realized they were a ‘safer’ bet.

This time around, though, it is not Dogecoin and Shiba Inu kickstarting the meme coin season and leading the charge. Instead, it was the likes of PEPE that had pumped on the Ethereum blockading, according to the analyst.

The move to the Solana blockchain, Rexha explains, was the result of traders trying to chase new runners on a “cheap and fast” chain. However, with the advent of projects such as PumpFun sucking a fair amount of liquidity out of the market, the Solana ‘trenches’ have now mostly died out.

As the trend comes full cycle once again, the crypto analyst expects traders to move back to the meme coin that started it all, and that is PEPE in this place. Rexha calls this a “Return to Quality” on the Ethereum blockchain, predicting that PEPE’s second run will be similar to that of Shiba Inu’s second run.

The analyst also warns that with this PEPE’s second run, traders will be lured back in with the hopes of having another run on other blockchains, such as a PumpFun “V2”. However, this is expected to be a “Final Extraction” event, so it is imperative that traders be careful when engaging with meme coins.