Best Meme Coins to Buy as the Dogecoin ETF Goes Live

Quick Facts:

• Grayscale’s new Dogecoin ETF ($GDOG) launches on NYSE Arca today, signaling growing institutional interest in altcoin and meme-coin exposure.
• ETF flows into $DOGE and $XRP often act as catalysts for broader altcoin rotations, especially into higher-beta meme assets during risk-on periods.
• PepeNode and Maxi Doge pair meme branding with staking and clear tokenomics, targeting traders who want yield from the best meme coins plus speculative upside.

Dogecoin ($DOGE) just stepped onto Wall Street. Grayscale’s Dogecoin ETF, trading under the ticker $GDOG, is launching on NYSE Arca today, following the exchange’s approval of the listing last Friday.

The fund converts Grayscale’s existing $DOGE trust into a spot ETF that directly tracks Dogecoin’s price while sitting inside regular brokerage accounts.

The launch is more than just another ticker on the board. With projections of up to $11M in first-day trading volume and a matching $XRP product going live the same day, $DOGE is now part of a broader altcoin ETF wave.

That means more institutional eyes, more liquidity, and potentially more narrative fuel for the entire meme sector.

Meme coins had been lagging the majors, but $DOGE’s new ETF status changes the conversation. Whenever capital flows into the flagship dog coin, traders usually start hunting higher-beta plays further down the risk curve.

In that context, the best meme coins right now split into two camps: early-stage presales with strong narratives and established blue chips with deep liquidity. PEPENODE ($PEPENODE), Maxi Doge ($MAXI), and Pepe ($PEPE) sit neatly on that spectrum.

1. PEPENODE ($PEPENODE) – Mine-To-Earn Meme Mining Platform

PEPENODE wraps meme culture in a ‘mine-to-earn’ game where you can build virtual server rooms, buy nodes, and earn rewards in $PEPENODE and other meme coins for out-mining rival players.

The token runs on Ethereum with a total supply of 210B and a heavy focus on product and growth budgets.

On the presale side, PepeNode has already raised more than $2.18M at a current token price of $0.0011638, with staking rewards advertised at 590% APY. That lets early buyers compound their stack before the game goes fully on-chain and before centralized exchange listings kick in.

Learn how to get your hands on $PEPENODE tokens in our PEPENODE buying guide.

If you’re a long-term investor, you’ll be pleased to know that the token has great potential. Based on our PepeNode price prediction, $PEPENODE could be as high as $0.0072 by the end of 2026 if the game gains traction. That’s about a 26.7x gain if you get in now.

For anyone who likes the $DOGE ETF narrative but wants a more utility-driven spin, PEPENODE offers direct exposure to both meme hype and GameFi mechanics.

But don’t delay, because the token presale has regular price increases. Another one is coming two days from now, so it’s best to act as soon as possible.

Join the PEPENODE presale today.

2. Maxi Doge ($MAXI) – Leveraged Trading Meme with Yield

If PepeNode is the miner, Maxi Doge is the over-caffeinated trader in the meme ecosystem. The project brands itself around ‘Giga-Chad’ leverage culture: a jacked Shiba mascot, gym-bro humor, and a roadmap centered on trading competitions and future derivatives integrations.

Under the memes sits a fairly structured token model. Maxi Doge runs on Ethereum with a capped supply of 150.24B $MAXI. The team allocates a Maxi Fund for long-term growth, plus dedicated buckets for liquidity, development, and marketing.

‘What is Maxi Doge?’ – everything you need to know about the project.

The presale has already attracted more than $4.18M, with the current round pricing $MAXI at $0.0002695. Staking yields at 73% APY give you a way to earn passive income while you wait for listings.

Narrative-wise, Maxi Doge is perfectly positioned for a $DOGE-driven cycle: it’s literally a dog coin that celebrates high-octane trading, at a time when a Dogecoin ETF is pulling fresh attention toward the whole dog-meme complex.

Our price forecasts for Maxi Doge are aggressive but clear about the upside path. If it hits the targets on its roadmap, then $MAXI has the potential to hit a high of $0.0058 by the end of next year. That’s a potential 2,052.3% gain in a single year!

If you’re a trader hunting asymmetry in this new $DOGE ETF environment, Maxi Doge is an obvious watchlist candidate.

Grab your $MAXI tokens here.

3. Pepe ($PEPE)– Blue-Chip Frog For Liquid Meme Beta

When it comes to the best meme coins, Pepe doesn’t need any introduction.

Since launching in 2023, it has established real liquidity and an already proven track record. It has a market cap of over $1.7B, daily trading volumes in the $300M range, and listings across major exchanges like Binance.

The token keeps things intentionally simple: no complex utility, no taxes, just a pure meme coin that rode an explosive run from microcap status to multi-billion-dollar valuation.

Even after that, it still sits roughly 80-plus percent below its all-time high near $0.00002825, which is exactly why some traders see room for a catch-up move if a full meme season returns.

In a world where Dogecoin now has an ETF and institutional capital can tap $DOGE via tickers instead of wallets, spillover flows typically look for familiar meme names with deep order books.

Pepe fits that bill better than most. It lives on Ethereum, integrates with every major DEX and CEX, and boasts a substantial holder base that can quickly reignite social momentum when the market turns. In fact, it has risen by around 1% in the last 24 hours, despite a particularly down market.

For anyone who wants exposure to the meme narrative without touching presales, Pepe gives a cleaner, more liquid way to ride any sector-wide uplift sparked by $GDOG’s debut on NYSE Arca.

Buy Pepe on Binance.

Recap: With Grayscale’s Dogecoin ETF starting to trade on the NYSE, meme coins are suddenly back in the macro spotlight. Early-stage plays like PepeNode and Maxi Doge offer higher-risk, higher-potential presale exposure, while Pepe provides large-cap liquidity for those who want a simpler way to express a view on the next meme rotation and the best meme coins narrative.

This article is informational only and not financial advice. Meme coins are highly volatile, and you can lose all invested capital.

Authored by Bogdan Patru, Bitcoinist — https://bitcoinist.com/best-meme-coins-to-buy-as-dogecoin-etf-gdog-launches-today