Bitcoin’s first-ever meme ICO, Bitcoin Pepe, launched yesterday and sold out Stage 1 in just 90 seconds, totaling a raise of $1.2M at the time of writing.
The BPEP token already gained significant attention prior to its launch, with the developers’ claims of building “Solana on Bitcoin” sparking discussion across the crypto industry. Bitcoin Pepe is a layer 2 chain that brings fast transactions, low fees, and smart contracts to Bitcoin, allowing users to create and trade meme coins while settling on highly secure Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Pepe’s promise to unlock Bitcoin’s $2 trillion of dormant capital for the meme coin market, which peaked at over $120 billion earlier this cycle, is drawing significant attention. With $1.2M raised on the first day alone, the BPEP ICO could be one to watch this year.
What Bitcoin needs: The meme machine
Bitcoin is widely recognized for its significance as the first digital asset to offer an alternative to government-issued currency. It is a highly regarded store of value and inflation hedge due to its scarcity and unbeatable security.
However, this security comes at a cost. The Proof-of-Work architecture that makes Bitcoin secure also results in slower transaction speeds (transactions take one hour versus one second on Solana), higher costs, and limited functionality. Unlike smart contract platforms such as Solana, which have DeFi, meme coins, and other applications, Bitcoin primarily facilitates basic transactions.
Bitcoin Pepe seamlessly integrates these two aspects. Merging the foundational layer of crypto with the sector’s biggest mover of today. It combines security and long-term stability with state-of-the-art technology and memes that welcome newcomers.
This is significant because meme coins have become a driving force in crypto this cycle, with prominent figures like Murad—a former Bitcoin maximalist turned meme advocate—realizing that the communities behind memes drive more adoption than anything else.
Coupled with the meme power of Pepe the Frog, whose namesake coin peaked at $10 billion in December, BPEP is positioned as a notable development. It is the first layer 2 to bring memes to Bitcoin, the first-ever meme ICO on the chain, and potentially the first step towards a world where the BTC ecosystem dominates the whole of crypto.
BPEP: Bitcoin’s first meme ICO
The Bitcoin Pepe presale got underway yesterday, bringing in $1.2M in its first 24 hours of trading.
Interest in the tokens is well-founded: investors will need BPEP tokens in order to access the ecosystem that Bitcoin Pepe is building, similar to how Solana meme coin traders need SOL to participate. Given the potential of Bitcoin’s meme layer, the growing demand for BPEP tokens might be surging.
The presale uses a stage model with 30 stages, offering 1.05 billion tokens (50% of total supply). Prices increase 5% per stage to reward early buyers, with Stage 1 starting at $0.021 before a 311% increase to $0.086 by the final stage before BPEP becomes available on public exchanges in Q2.
A further 15% of tokens are reserved for staking and rewards to promote long-term holding, while another 10% are set aside for marketing activities.
The roadmap includes building a layer-2 chain during Q2, plus launching a dedicated DEX, mainnet, and Bitcoin bridge later in 2025.
Can “Solana on Bitcoin” win the meme race?
The race for smart contract dominance has been raging for a long time—Ethereum still holds the top spot, but Solana’s rise with the meme coin market has shaken things up this cycle. Meanwhile, Bitcoin remains the number one blockchain, as it has been since 2008—and Bitcoin Pepe’s blend of these two worlds could produce a winner.
Bitcoin Pepe’s promise to merge Bitcoin’s $2 trillion in untapped capital with the $19 billion meme coin market is impossible to ignore. The BPEP presale offers an opportunity to participate in a project that could contribute to the evolving crypto infrastructure.
The price is currently at $0.0232 Considering Solana, the current leader in meme coins, has increased 850 times from its ICO price, Bitcoin Pepe's potential development will be worth observing.
To learn more about Bitcoin Pepe, check out the official website.