Dogecoin spikes 11%, pepe jumps 25% as 2026 starts with a bang for memecoins

People always going to meme I guess..

Dogecoin and pepe led a sharp meme coin bounce on Friday, with traders leaning into “meme season” talk as 2026 gets underway.

Dogecoin was up about 11% over 24 hours, while pepe rose roughly 17% on the day after a stronger intraday push.

Crypto’s meme basket has also been heating up more broadly. CoinGecko’s GMCI Meme Index category showed a market value of roughly $33.8 billion with about $5.9 billion in 24 hour trading volume, a sign that the move is not just a single token story.