PEPE Lags Behind Shiba Inu as Market Cap Dips Below $700M, With No Utility So Far

PEPE, which aimed to rival Shiba Inu, appears to be declining faster than most assets amid a drop in the hype surrounding its emergence.

PEPE has dropped below a market capitalization of $700 million amid a massive ongoing dip. This drop has been triggered by a decline in the hype surrounding its emergence as well as the prevalent bearish market conditions.

PEPE, which aimed to rival Shiba Inu (SHIB), has continued to lag despite its meteoric yet short-lived rally observed in the past weeks. During its glory days, PEPE’s market cap soared to $1.8 billion on May 5, allowing the meme coin to break into the top 40 assets by valuation.

The meme coin’s monumental surge was partly triggered by speculative demand, influenced by the growing hype surrounding the asset. As the hype continues to wane, investors appear to be trooping out.

PEPE has declined by 65% in the past 12 days. On the contrary, SHIB sees a mere 12% drop within the same time frame. Shiba Inu has continued to hold above the support levels at the $0.000008 territory as a hedge against further dips. Its market cap remains above $5 billion, retaining 15th among the largest assets.

Meanwhile, PEPE’s market capitalization now stands at $626 million, representing a 65.7% decline from the peak of $1.825 billion observed on May 5. Consequently, the asset has dropped to no. 72 on the list of top assets by market capitalization, per data from CoinGecko.

Moreover, data from Kaiko, a crypto market intelligence resource, shows that most investors are betting against PEPE. Open Interest (OI) for the PEPE-USDT perpetual soared close to $70 million over the weekend, with a dominance of short positions.

PEPE-USDT perpetual futures open interest on Binance was nearly $70 million over the weekend, with shorts outweighing longs. pic.twitter.com/MPIzZghjjx

— Kaiko (@KaikoData) May 17, 2023

A Lack of Utility Has Triggered Investor Exodus

PEPE has been among the biggest losing asset in the past 24 hours, dropping by 9.17%. With no real-world utility yet for the asset, investors are gradually leaving the market.

Some investors have highlighted a remarkable difference between PEPE and other assets such as SHIB and Dogecoin, which boast real-world utilities as payment methods, among other use cases.

Moreover, the Shiba Inu community wants to welcome Shibarium, the ecosystem’s L2 solution, and SHIB: The Metaverse. These projects are expected to increase the asset’s real-world utility further.