Bitcoin briefly climbed above the $69,000 threshold before quickly retreating as traders began looking for higher returns in marginal tokens known as meme coins.
Two tokens in the Ethereum ecosystem, BB and Mog, surged to record highs on Monday, continuing last week’s impressive gains. The gains also coincided with a nearly 5% surge in ether. The rally came on the heels of the U.S. approving the filing of major ether exchange-traded funds, prompting traders to look at meme tokens as beta bets.
The surge is part of a broader rally in meme coins, with most meme-based cryptocurrencies trading in the green. The sector has seen a surge in interest over the past few weeks after legendary trader and investor Roaring Kitty returned to the trading world after a three-year absence.
Furthermore, the number of addresses holding meme coins for less than thirty days reached a record high last month, indicating a massive influx of new traders entering the market.
Traders have been considering BP (LON:BP) and Mog as ways to profit from Ethereum. The rally in these coins began when analysts raised the possibility of Ethereum exchange-traded funds being approved for trading in the United States.
In the past 24 hours, the frog-themed BB coin and the cat-themed MWG coin have surged 11% and 45% respectively, as the gambling narrative has gained momentum. Gambling allows investors to gain exposure to a major asset by investing in related networks or protocols. Trading volumes on BB in spot and futures markets have reached over $1.8 billion, far exceeding the usual range of $400 million to $600 million.
Futures data revealed a massive increase in open interest in instruments tracking BP and Wave over the past 24 hours. Open interest in BP rose to $720 million from $550 million last week, and open interest in Wave rose to $8.3 million from $5 million. Increased open interest is typically seen as a sign of new capital entering the market, which can lead to further price volatility.
Despite the uptrend, BP's buy-to-sell ratio is skewed to bearish at 54%, indicating that traders are largely betting against further price increases.
BB even entered the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap, surpassing $6 billion, and offering early investors healthy returns on initial investments of up to $460. Since 2023, meme tokens—typically seen as having no intrinsic value but with large followings—have risen in popularity as experimental bets on their respective ecosystems.
