A fortunate cryptocurrency investor has seemingly managed to turn an investment of just 0.125 ETH ($ETH) in a meme-inspired cryptocurrency called $PEPE into a staggering $1.14 million in just a matter of days by buying into it at the right time.

PEPE, a relatively new crypto coin, has been making headlines lately due to its meteoric rise in both volume and popularity. Within 24 hours, its trading volume skyrocketed to over $130 million, capturing the attention of the crypto world. The digital currency is inspired by the popular internet meme Pepe the Frog and is just one of many meme coins that have been gaining traction in recent times.

The investors, whose transactions were first reported on by on-chain analytics service Lookonchain, initially spent a little over $250 to purchase 5.9 trillion PEPE tokens. If the investor were to sell the tokens at current prices of $0.00000277 per token, the investor would have $1.6 million, yielding a return of over 600,000%.

When Lookonchain looked not the data, the return was around 4,500x, with the profit being of around $1.14 million.

The rise of meme-based cryptocurrencies has been a phenomenon in the world of digital finance. In recent years, established meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin ($DOGE) saw its popularity explode as rivals including Shiba Inu ($SHIB), Babydoge ($BABYDOGE) Wojak ($WOJAK), and ArbDoge, have been created and garnered significant attention.

Memecoins have become a sensation as these cryptocurrencies offer investors an opportunity for significant financial gains, as demonstrated by the recent PEPE success story. However, the rapid rise and potential volatility of meme coins also pose significant risks to investors, especially those who may be new to the world of cryptocurrency, as many end up underwater after buying.

The memecoin action is seemingly affecting the Ethereum network, with the cost of gas on it – the amount of ETH that has to be paid for transactions – spiking to its second-highest level in six months. At current prices, Ethereum users are paying around $30 to trade on decentralized exchanges.

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