GME and KITTY memecoins spike alongside surge in GameStop stock

Two memecoins trying to capitalize off of GameStop experienced a price increase following the firm's boost in share price. 

The cryptocurrencies GME and KITTY surged 18.7% and 55%, respectively, according to crypto price data from CoinGecko. GME traded at $0.0047 while KITTY was valued at $0.0035, according to CoinGecko as of 4:36 p.m. ET (20:36 UTC) on May 28. 

The memecoin prices rose alongside GameStop stock, which traded at $23.78 at 4:19 p.m. ET (20:19 UTC) on May 28. The firm's shares rose 25.16% in the last 24 hours, according to NYSE. 

However, neither tokens are affiliated with GameStop. 

GME is a memecoin using the same ticker symbol as GameStop stock. KITTY gets its moniker from Roaring Kitty, the online username of former financial analyst Keith Gill, who was involved in the GameStop short squeeze three years ago. 

Continued memecoin growth

Memecoins have grown broadly over the past year, notes The Block's Senior Research Analyst Rebecca Stevens. The GMCI memecoin index shows that memecoins are not only up 2.26% in the past day, but the sector has grown 41.4% in the past month and 310% year-to-date. 

"The MEME index continues to dramatically outperform its peers after its stellar rally in early March," Stevens wrote in The Block's Data & Insight newsletter. "While memecoin hype did slow a bit over the past month, the index was able to hold on to a lot of its gains. It was trading below 100 at the start of the year."

"While the Top 30, Layer 1, and DeFi indices all also surged in the past week, only the Meme index is back within range of its previous high reached in March. The Layer 2 and DePIN indices have remained mostly flat," Steven added.