Pepe (PEPE), once-booming meme coin, has had a difficult ride and dropped around 10% during the previous 24 hours. This abrupt decline coincides with a flurry of queries about significant token withdrawals from a big exchange and the general viability of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency.
PEPE Price Takes A Tumble
PEPE was riding high just a few months ago, attracting crypto aficionados with its quick price swings. But the tides seem to have flipped. The latest price dip clouds the future course of the meme coin with questions.
Although some might blame the decline on a normal volatility correction in the bitcoin market, fresh on-chain data presents a more interesting picture.
Whale Movements Spark FUD
Two days earlier, Etherscan, a blockchain analytics tool, reports that roughly 1 trillion PEPE tokens—worth almost $8 million—were taken out. With a high-security Gnosis Safe Proxy wallet enabling the movement, the source of the transfer is nevertheless unknown.
Source: Etherscan
This wasn’t an isolated event either. Data reveals another withdrawal of 322.48 billion PEPE tokens, worth around $2.7 million, from the same shadowy address just a day prior.
The timing of these large transactions is most puzzling. They coincided with an unexpected 17% increase in PEPE’s price, which caused the bitcoin community to speculate and experience FUD—that is, anxiety.
Theories range from market manipulation tactics to the possibility of unforeseen regulatory crackdowns, causing jitters among investors.
Total crypto market cap currently at $2.2 trillion. Chart: TradingView
Community Sentiment: Bullish Despite The Wobble
Fascinatingly, CoinGecko data shows the PEPE community stays mostly optimistic in spite of the price decline and surrounding uncertainty. The flood of 703 fresh PEPE holders in the past day supports this constant hope even more.
PEPE price action in the last 24 hours. Source: CoinMarketCap
Prominent bitcoin personalities such as analyst David Gokhshtein, who believes PEPE will remain the main competitor of Dogecoin in the upcoming bull market expected later this year, are fueling the optimistic fires.
I think you’ll see a crazy battle between $PEPE & $DOGE this meme season.
— David Gokhshtein (@davidgokhshtein) May 6, 2024
Investing In PEPE: Proceed With Caution
The recent price decline and the mystery about the big token withdrawals attract attention to the underlying instability of the cryptocurrency market as the community attitude moves toward optimism and some analysts see great development possibility.
Featured image from KnowYourMeme, chart from TradingView