PEPE, BRETT and Base's DEGEN lead meme coin sector following altcoin recovery

• PEPE is up more than 13% but could face sell-off soon.
• BRETT flips peer BONK after 20% increase.
• DEGEN ranks second across several on-chain meme coin metrics despite low market cap.

PEPE and BRETT are among the top gainers in the meme category on Wednesday as altcoins lead the crypto market in recovery after more than a week of consolidating prices.

Meme coins follow other alts in recovery

Following the Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to drop an investigation into Ethereum 2.0, several altcoins rallied alongside ETH, breaking out from a weeklong Bitcoin-induced market dump. While it may seem early to call for an altcoin season, the market is showing early signs of just that, considering double-digit gains across top altcoins and Bitcoin remaining relatively muted.

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Notably, PEPE and Base meme coins BRETT and DEGEN outperformed several altcoins.

PEPE rallied more than 14% in the past 24 hours following a 177% spike in its large transaction volume, possibly from buyers. Its 30-day MVRV ratio is down over 8%, meaning all addresses that purchased PEPE within the last 30 days are at an average loss of 8%, according to data from Santiment. This indicates that PEPE may still be in a buy zone for long traders.

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However, a move above the $0.000015 price level to approach a new all-time high will see almost all PEPE coins being in profit, according to data from IntoTheBlock. A sell-off may ensue following such a move, potentially causing the price of PEPE to tank.

BRETT shot up above 20% on Wednesday, flipping Solana-based BONK to become the sixth-largest meme coin in terms of market capitalization.

DEGEN also saw a 40% rally in the past 24 hours after ranking second behind Dogecoin (DOGE) in terms of total transaction count and number of traders across the meme sector. The move is notable, considering DEGEN is only 0.79% of DOGE's market cap.

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Meanwhile, DOGE continues to see increased net exchange outflows, recording more than 201 million DOGE net outflows in the past 24 hours. This shows investors may be long-term bullish on the number one altcoin despite its recent slow price growth.