The PEPE project was launched anonymously with no public disclosure of its founders or development team. A distinctive feature of the launch was the complete absence of a presale and zero token allocation to any team members. The project was created as a tribute to Matt Furie's Pepe the Frog character, with the development group reportedly operating under the pseudonymous moniker 'Pepe工具'. Matt Furie, the original creator of Pepe the Frog, has since embraced the crypto version and released a statement expressing support for the community-driven movement.

PEPE was launched on Uniswap in mid-April 2023 with zero initial funding. Within weeks, it achieved a market capitalization peak of $1.6 billion in late April to early May 2023, creating significant wealth for early adopters and triggering what observers termed a 'memecoin season'. Key milestones include achieving CoinMarketCap listing (Phase 1 roadmap), listing on Binance.US and other centralized exchanges (Phase 2), and targeting tier-1 exchange listings as part of its Phase 3 roadmap, described as a 'meme takeover'. The project has maintained a community-driven approach throughout its growth.

PEPE is an ERC-20 token deployed on the Ethereum blockchain, inheriting the network's Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism secured by decentralized validators who stake 32 ETH. The token implements standard Ethereum transaction mechanics with no custom smart contract features, no staking mechanism, and no governance functionality. It is compatible with widely-used wallets such as MetaMask and tradeable on decentralized exchanges including Uniswap. All PEPE transfers are standard Ethereum transactions subject to network gas fees and operate within the Ethereum Virtual Machine execution environment.

PEPE has a maximum supply of 420.69 trillion tokens, with 50 percent of the initial supply (approximately 210 trillion tokens) burned at launch to enhance scarcity. The token implements a burn mechanism where a portion of each transaction is destroyed to reduce circulating supply over time. However, the circulating supply remains equal to the maximum supply due to the reintroduction of burned tokens, new token minting, and community-driven initiatives. The project has announced plans for a $500 million token burn strategy in 2026. PEPE adopts a no-tax policy on all transactions, differentiating it from many other tokens.

PEPE operates as a fully community-driven project with no formal governance structure, DAO, or voting mechanism. There is no team token allocation or institutional backing, which the project explicitly highlights as a sign of transparency and fairness. All major decisions, including potential token burns and liquidity provisions, are understood to be communicated through community channels such as Twitter and Discord. The project has been transparent about having zero utility, and its value is driven entirely by community consensus and cultural appeal rather than any governance-based token holder rights.

PEPE functions primarily as a community-driven meme coin and social currency within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Its main use cases include acquisition and holding as a speculative digital asset, peer-to-peer exchange on both decentralized and centralized trading platforms, and participation in community engagement activities. The token aims to deliver value through paying for digital goods and engaging in social activities within its ecosystem. Despite its lack of technical utility, PEPE has attracted a passionate and rapidly growing global community, driven by the cultural significance of the Pepe the Frog meme and the appeal of community-driven speculative trading.