Traders debate which coin will hit $1 first in the 2025-26 memecoin cycle

Dogecoin eyes the $1 milestone, but newcomer Little Pepe’s fast-selling presale is stealing the spotlight.

Every memecoin cycle seems to have its big race, and for 2025–26, the finish line is clear: the $1 mark. Dogecoin has been inching toward it for over a decade, buoyed by Elon Musk tweets, retail nostalgia, and its place as crypto’s most recognizable joke token. 

But this time, it’s not running alone. Little Pepe has stormed into the conversation, pulling in millions during its presale and selling tokens at a pace that’s hard to ignore. 

Dogecoin: The meme veteran with a ceiling

Dogecoin is still the original memecoin brand. It’s the face plastered across internet culture, tipped in Reddit threads, and name-dropped by Elon Musk. That recognition is worth a lot in a market where perception drives price.

Right now, DOGE trades in the $0.23–$0.24 range. For it to touch $1, investors would need roughly a 4×–5× return. That’s not outlandish, but it’s more about sustaining cultural relevance than breaking new technological ground. Its structure is part of the problem. 

DOGE is inflationary, adding new coins endlessly, and its proof-of-work chain offers little beyond transaction capability. Without DeFi layers, NFT markets, or smart contract support, DOGE’s growth story leans entirely on the meme and the crowd behind it. Analysts generally see it hitting $1 in a bullish run, but not in the explosive move that makes millionaires overnight.

Little Pepe: The infrastructure-powered underdog

LILPEPE doesn’t just want to join the memecoin conversation; it wants to rebuild the stage it’s happening on. The project runs on its own Ethereum-compatible Layer-2 blockchain, purpose-built for memecoins, combining:

• Ultra-low fees for rapid trading
• Zero taxes to encourage volume
• Sniper-bot protection to prevent unfair early grabs
• A meme-focused launchpad for community-driven projects

It’s a setup designed to attract speculative traders and become the go-to network for launching and hosting memecoins. But what’s catching traders’ attention right now is the presale speed. LILPEPE has already raised over $19.5 million across its first 10 stages. 

Stage 11, priced at $0.0020, is disappearing fast, with more than 500 million tokens sold in under 24 hours, with less than 1 billion left before the price moves up to $0.0021. Early buyers from Stage 1 have already doubled their investment before the token even hits the open market. 

Price predictions range from $0.10–$0.50 by the end of 2025 (50× returns) to more extreme forecasts of $1–$2 within the same timeframe, should the hype and adoption curve hold. At $1, that’s roughly 500× from today’s presale price.

The $1 race: Closer vs. faster

Some traders believe DOGE is the obvious frontrunner purely by proximity, just $0.76 away from the target. But the math hides the real story. For DOGE, a 4× jump requires a wave of mainstream adoption or a market frenzy strong enough to absorb billions in buying pressure. 

For LILPEPE, the leap to $1 is mathematically massive, but these kinds of runs happen in short, intense bursts in the world of low-cap, high-hype memecoins. In the last two cycles, we’ve seen coins move from fractions of a cent to multiple dollars in under a year when momentum hit critical mass.

Community, hype, and the X-factor

Dogecoin’s community is loyal, but also older and less aggressive in viral marketing. LILPEPE’s crowd, by contrast, is in full-throttle mode, leveraging social media pushes, influencer endorsements, and a $777,000 giveaway to keep momentum high. 

It’s also already topping memecoin trend trackers, outranking PEPE, DOGE, and SHIB in mentions from June through August 2025.

Add in confirmed exchange listings and whale accumulation, and you have a token building both the infrastructure and the hype machine before it even launches.

Bottom line

Dogecoin could hit $1; it’s been the dream of its holders for years, and with the right market conditions, it’s achievable. But LILPEPE isn’t waiting for the market to hand it an opportunity; it’s engineering one through tech, scarcity, and a presale that’s moving in real time. Ultimately, the race to $1 might not be about who’s closer but about who’s running faster. For traders willing to take the bigger risk for the bigger prize, LILPEPE’s path might be worth betting on.

To learn more about Little Pepe, visit the website, Telegram, and X.