The recent plunge in the market cap of new memecoin Pepe (PEPE) has seen a drop of $1.1 billion from its peak on May 6th. However, interestingly, on-chain data reveals that some crypto whales have continued to buy the falling token. Over the last five days, Pepe has witnessed a staggering drop in price by more than 56%, falling from $0.00000431 to $0.00000193, as reported by CoinGecko. This price drop led to Pepe’s total valuation falling from a remarkable $1.82 billion to $820 million, shedding more than half of its value.
A recent study conducted by researchers at crypto fintech firm Matrixport has linked this sharp decline in price to certain traders selling large chunks of their holdings to new retail investors following the memecoin’s listing on Binance, which is currently the world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume. Contributing to this price action, the report suggests that the largest driving factor comes from traders in Asia, with buying activity during Asian trading hours accounting for an incredible 3,657% of the total 9,071% rally Pepe experienced up until May 8th.
Adding further weight to this theory, data reveals that Ethereum deposits surged to levels unseen since November 2021 within 24 hours of the memecoin’s listing on the exchange. It’s speculated that early buyers of Pepe, predominantly those who purchased the token through ETH swaps on decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap and 1inch, were securing profits by transferring their holdings back into Ether (ETH).
Despite this, certain well-known crypto whales have continued purchasing Pepe at its reduced prices. Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that “Machi Big Brother”, the alias of former tech entrepreneur Jeffrey Huang, has bought a total of 73.4 ETH, around $137,000, of Pepe in the last 4 days. His average buying price stands at $0.000002082, approximately 3% below the current trading price.
While Pepe has suffered a significant decline in its value in such a short time, the memecoin’s journey from inception to date is one that cannot be ignored. The overwhelming influence of traders based in Asia in driving its price up, as well as continued investment from well-established whales, might hint at a potential for recovery in the future. For now, the memecoin community and investors alike will have to keep a close eye on Pepe’s moves in the market.
Source: Cointelegraph
