The world of cryptocurrency never fails to surprise, and the recent upheaval in the value of the frog-themed memecoin, Pepe (PEPE), is no exception. Experiencing a dip of nearly 15% in its value, this descent has been attributed to suspicious activities linked to its developers, raising alarms of a potential “rug pull”.
This episode of mistrust commenced when a massive sum of Pepe tokens, valued at $16 million, were abruptly moved from the developers’ multisig wallet to multiple cryptocurrency exchanges on August 24. Delving deeper into the specifics, Safe Global’s blockchain custody app disclosed that a whopping 16 trillion Pepe tokens, amounting to approximately 3.8% of the entire circulating supply, were dispersed across three exchanges and an unconfirmed wallet. The distributions were as follows:
Further amplifying concerns, the developers then tweaked the multisig wallet’s approval system. Previously, a transaction from this wallet mandated five out of eight signatures for authorization. However, the latest data from Etherscan reveals that this requirement has been slashed to just two out of eight. As of now, this wallet still retains Pepe tokens with an estimated worth of $10 million.
It’s important to underscore that this incident marked the very first instance where Pepe tokens were shifted from the project’s multisig wallet to external exchanges.
Pepe’s rise in the memecoin arena was meteoric, with enthusiasts lauding it as the imminent successor to the crown held by the pioneering memecoin, Dogecoin (DOGE). Some optimistic projections even predicted Pepe’s potential to overshadow Dogecoin in the forthcoming bull cycle.
However, the current unsettling events, predominantly the sizable transfer of tokens and modifications to the multisig wallet, have cast a shadow of doubt on this narrative. For many stakeholders, these movements prompt vital questions regarding the memecoin’s future stability and trustworthiness.
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