Pepe the Frog started as a character in Matt Furie’s comic strip Boy’s Club in 2005. The anthropomorphic frog with a chill attitude became popular on Myspace and Tumblr in the late 2000s and early 2010s. As social media evolved, Pepe transformed into a meme used to express a variety of emotions and situations.
The turning point came in 2015 with the rise of rare Pepes. Collectors started defining certain Pepes as rare, like a holographic Charizard Pokémon card, to add a sense of value and exclusivity. The rarest Pepes sold for thousands of dollars. This sparked the idea of Pepecoin, a cryptocurrency featuring the meme frog as its mascot.
Pepecoin launched in 2018 as a way for meme enthusiasts to buy, sell and trade rare Pepes. It started as a joke but gained mainstream interest. The value of Pepecoins skyrocketed, and rare Pepe NFTs were selling for over $100,000. Big brands like Nike even released Pepe shoes, apparel and accessories.
Critics argued Pepe promoted hate speech and racism. His image had been appropriated by racist groups to spread hateful ideologies. Pepe’s creator Matt Furie tried to reclaim the character, filing DMCA takedown requests to remove inappropriate uses of Pepe.
By 2021, Pepe mania settled down. However, Pepecoin and rare Pepe NFTs still see interest from collectors and meme historians. Pepe remains an important part of internet culture, documenting how a humble comic character became a complex meme that reflected the good, the bad and the ugly of online communities.
Pepe’s evolution shows how internet memes can go mainstream and become a part of popular culture. But they can also be misused to spread hate and misinformation. Pepe stands as a warning for how even lighthearted jokes and symbols can be twisted for harmful means if we’re not mindful of their impact and spread. Still, Pepe’s original roots as a laid-back and fun-loving cartoon amphibian remain an indelible part of meme nostalgia.
