As Ripple settles its long-running dispute with the SEC, XRP’s rally loses steam. Meanwhile, AI meme coin MIND of Pepe gains traction amid shifting investor focus and a surging altcoin market.
XRP’s bullish run to $2.65 was cut short this week as broader market optimism cooled and profit-taking pushed the token back down toward the $2.54 support zone. While the US-China trade deal initially lifted sentiment across digital assets, XRP’s retreat reveals underlying hesitation – fuelled in part by evolving regulatory dynamics at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Speaking at the third Crypto Task Force roundtable on Monday, newly appointed SEC Chair Paul Atkins unveiled a clear shift in regulatory tone. Promising a “new day at the SEC,” Atkins committed to ending the agency’s enforcement-first approach in favour of formal rulemaking. This move comes on the heels of a $50 million settlement between Ripple and the SEC, closing a nearly five-year legal battle that has long clouded XRP’s trajectory.
But rather than reigniting bullish momentum, the resolution appears to have triggered a wave of profit-taking. XRP has slipped to $2.54 at the time of writing, as traders recalibrate expectations. The 12-hour Relative Strength Index (RSI) pulled back from near-overbought territory, now sitting at 63.17, hinting at a cooling trend. Liquidations over the past 24 hours totalled $615.19 million, with long positions accounting for more than $490 million of the wipeout.
Despite broader market support from positive trade talks and a growing appetite for risk assets, XRP is struggling to maintain upward momentum. Yet while the Ripple narrative stabilises, a fresh story is taking shape – one that reflects a deeper shift in crypto investor sentiment: the rise of AI-powered meme coins.
MIND of Pepe Rides the AI and Altcoin Boom
As XRP pulls back, traders looking for explosive upside are turning to early-stage tokens riding the next wave of crypto innovation. At the centre of this shift is MIND of Pepe, a meme-branded token that merges AI trading tools with crypto-native community culture. The project has already raised over $9.1 million – signalling a growing appetite for speculative but intelligent plays.
The timing couldn’t be more strategic. While XRP and other large caps pause, meme coins and AI tokens are lighting up the charts. Bitcoin’s move above $100,000 and back-to-back daily 100% gains in meme coin sectors have pushed market sentiment into “extreme greed” territory. This is often a precursor to a broader altcoin breakout – one where projects like MIND of Pepe are best positioned to shine.
From Meme to Machine: How MIND of Pepe is Reframing the Meta
Unlike many meme coins chasing virality with no underlying tech, MIND of Pepe sets itself apart with a live AI agent built specifically for crypto markets. This isn’t just branding. It’s an operational tool, powered by a persona-trained language model capable of understanding trader lingo, parsing live sentiment from social media and predicting market trends with contextual accuracy.
The AI system taps into multiple data layers – X (formerly Twitter) posts, DEX liquidity shifts, token launch data and on-chain transaction trends – to generate actionable insights for $MIND holders via a dedicated Terminal. It’s a tool designed not just to follow meme coin trends, but to stay a step ahead of them.
JOIN THE $MIND PRESALE BEFORE IT ENDS
As the project’s smart agent goes live this week, the combination of usable tech and meme aesthetics is drawing increasing attention. Already, more than 1.4 billion tokens have been staked, with buyers eyeing the platform’s 248% APY rewards and long-term potential to identify the next breakout tokens before they go viral.
Regulatory Calm, Retail Heat: A Shifting Market Landscape
It’s no coincidence that investor capital is flowing into projects like MIND of Pepe just as institutional narratives cool. While Paul Atkins’ SEC pivot may lay the foundation for long-term clarity, in the short term it has added to market uncertainty for established tokens like XRP. The Ripple lawsuit may be settled, but the token’s trajectory now hinges on broader regulatory rollout and renewed demand – both of which may take time.
In contrast, presale-stage tokens with clear narratives and innovative structures are capturing the moment. The SEC’s move away from enforcement-heavy policymaking, combined with increased openness to “super apps” and self-custody options, has broadened the opportunity set for AI-based, decentralised tools. That’s precisely the space where MIND of Pepe operates.
While XRP eyes technical resistance at $2.80 and support near $2.20, traders looking for higher-risk, higher-reward exposure are betting that the next major breakout won’t come from already-known names – it will come from early-stage, high-utility alternatives riding emergent trends.
Altcoin Season Signals: AI Agents Are Leading the Charge
Crypto’s attention span is famously short, but the current market cycle appears to favour one sector above all: AI agents. With MIND of Pepe combining trend-sniffing AI tools and meme coin energy, its rapid fundraising and growing follower base (22,000 on X and counting) suggest that sentiment is aligning behind its vision.
As ETH struggles to regain narrative dominance and XRP’s bullish momentum fades, smart money is flowing into crypto-native solutions with real-time intelligence baked into the product. MIND of Pepe’s ability to scan emerging tokens, assess community traction and trigger pre-emptive insights makes it more than a meme – it’s a trader’s edge wrapped in viral branding.
With market conditions leaning risk-on, presales are drawing attention for their low entry points and high upside potential. With $MIND still available at $0.0037515 for a limited time, early backers see an opportunity to ride both the altseason and AI waves in tandem.
Whether or not XRP regains momentum in the near term, the broader shift in investor focus is clear. As regulatory uncertainty eases and capital rotates, AI agent projects like MIND of Pepe are becoming the face of crypto’s next speculative wave and in a market that rewards innovation as much as timing, that may be the smartest play of all.
