The battle for meme coin dominance is heating up.New data shows Pepe (PEPE) is quickly closing in on Shiba Inu (SHIB) as the second-largest meme coin by market cap.
The gap between these two heavyweights has narrowed so much that it could turn everything on its head with just one powerful rally.
What you'll learn 👉
How Close PEPE Is to SHIB
According to numbers shared by meme coin watcher Pepetoshi Nakamoto using CompareMarketCap, PEPE price recently traded around $0.000010 with a market cap of $4.51 billion. Shiba Inu, meanwhile, was priced near $0.000012 with a $7.62 billion market cap.
That means PEPE would only need about a 69% price jump to leapfrog SHIB. If that happens, PEPE’s price could climb to roughly $0.000018, officially taking the number-two meme coin spot behind Dogecoin.
The meme coin rivalry is intensifying, with Shiba Inu at risk of being overtaken by Pepe and losing its spot as the second-biggest meme coin.
— TheCryptoBasic (@thecryptobasic) September 22, 2025
Since early 2022, Shiba Inu has maintained its position as the second-largest meme coin behind Dogecoin. However, Shiba Inu’s dominance…
Market Action Over the Past Year
Both tokens have had a rough 2025. Shiba Inu price has lost about 42.7% of its value since January, including a 9% dip in the last 30 days and nearly 11% just in the past week.
Pepe has struggled too, dropping 51.2% year-to-date, 15.7% over the past month, and 13.7% this week.
But there’s a key difference: over the past year, PEPE is still up 18.13%, while SHIB is down 17.67%. That long-term growth is one reason traders think PEPE could catch up if sentiment flips.
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Moreover, in the very latest snapshot, the gap has widened slightly again. After a fresh pullback, PEPE price slipped 9.44% in a single day, dropping to about $0.0000097 with a market cap of $4.09 billion. Shiba Inu fell less, about 6.94%, holding near $0.00001211 with a $7.15 billion market cap.
Because of those moves, PEPE now needs roughly a 74% rally to close the gap. But as recent swings show, momentum in meme coins can change quickly.
What’s Next in the Meme Coin Battle
For now, Shiba Inu still holds the second spot, but PEPE remains the closest challenger by far. One such rally could be all it would need to take the crown.
With both coins notorious for sudden price movements and functioning communities, the war on meme coin supremacy is far from finished, and the next market turning point might decide the supreme token.
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