PEPE's been the frontrunner of the meme coin wave since the start of 2025, and there's solid reasoning to use it as our benchmark going forward. Think of it like the meme sector's VIX—a volatility and sentiment gauge. When PEPE is showing strength and momentum, it typically signals the broader meme ecosystem is heating up. Conversely, once PEPE starts losing steam or flips bearish, you can usually expect the rest of the meme coins to follow suit. Using a single dominant asset to read the room isn't perfect, but it gives us a quick way to gauge meme market health without tracking everything individually.