Two popular altcoins are surging in price after receiving surprise listings from US-based crypto exchange platform Bitstamp.
In a new blog post, the crypto exchange says that its US branch is adding support for smart contract platform Solana (SOL) and Pepe (PEPE), a frog-themed meme asset built on top altcoin Ethereum (ETH).
“The day US fans of Solana and Pepe have been waiting for is finally here! We’re excited to announce that well-known Solana and the popular meme coin Pepe are now available for trading on Bitstamp in the US.”
News of the listings sent both SOL and PEPE flying, as Solana went from a low of $235 on November 28th to a peak of $246 the next day while PEPE went from a low of $0.00001941 to a peak of $0.00002101 during the same time frame.
Both SOL and PEPE have since retraced and are trading for $240 and $0.00002038 at time of writing, respectively. In its post, Bitstamp describes Solana as “a cutting-edge blockchain platform designed to deliver fast and scalable transactions” and Pepe as a charming token inspired by the legendary Pepe the Frog character that has no actual utility beyond collecting and trading.
Earlier this year, retail trading giant Robinhood announced that it would be acquiring Bitstamp – which was founded in 2011 in Luxembourg – for $200 million despite getting hit with a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).