Is PEPE becoming a meme coin of the past?

PEPE’s Telegram account was hacked – a domino effect that caused uncertainty in traders. Alongside this, investors’ interest in trading PEPE also declined over the past few months. 

• PEPE’s price dropped by 2% following the news of a hack.
• Though most metrics were bearish, whales’ confidence in PEPE remained high. 

Pepe [PEPE] has become one of the most popular meme coins as it has remained a trending topic of discussion in the crypto space. However, except for early growth, not many things have turned out to be in the meme coin’s favor in the recent past. 

PEPE witnessed major setbacks as it fell victim to internal clashes and hacks, which raised questions regarding its reliability and legitimacy. Considering past events, PEPE’s declining price, and a lack of utility of sorts, will PEPE become a thing of history soon? 

PEPE falls victim to a hack

On 9 September, PEPE’s official X (formerly Twitter) handle revealed that its Telegram account had been compromised. After the hack, the account was being used to spread misinformation.

As per the official tweet, whoever has gained access to this account was using it to push scams, deceive people, and launch other coins.

Soon after the news broke, the memecoin’s price dropped by more than 2%. At the time of writing, the coin was trading at $0.0000007884 with a market capitalization of over $308 million. 

A look at the meme coin’s daily chart revealed what turned against PEPE. Its Money Flow Index (MFI) registered a sharp downtick. Its On Balance Volume (OBV) was also resting low.

Additionally, PEPE’s Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) took a sideways path, which was bearish. 

Interestingly, this was not the first instance of PEPE witnessing a fraud or hack. As reported earlier, in late August 2023, the meme coin’s former team members executed a scam, creating havoc among investors.

Three former team members stole millions of dollars’ worth of tokens and sent them to exchanges for sale. The episode turned out to be disastrous for the meme coin, as its price fell by 20% on 25 August 2023, as a major sell-off took place. 

A bird’s eye view of PEPE’s state

While talking about PEPE’s relevance, it’s important to take a look back to understand the meme coin’s journey. Soon after the launch, the meme coin’s price rallied and reached an all-time high of $0.000001 in May 2023. Moreover, its market cap crossed the $1 billion mark.

The incident was astonishing, considering that the meme coin had no development going around it to support the uptrend. 

The wind changed direction soon, as after a quick gain, all the meme coin witnessed was a price correction. PEPE shed most of its value as a result, and at press time, it ranked 93 on the list of top cryptos by market cap.

In the beginning, investors were confident in the meme coin’s growth as they accumulated more.

However, things changed over the last few weeks. This was evident from the sudden rise in PEPE’s supply on exchanges. This was accompanied by a drop in its supply outside of exchanges, signaling that investors were selling their holdings.

Not only that, but investors’ willingness to trade the token also declined over the last few months as its trading volume plummeted sharply. 

LunarCrush’s data pointed out an interesting development regarding PEPE’s performance on the social front. Despite multiple instances of the meme coin trending on social media platforms, its social engagement has dropped by more than 50% in the last three months.

Its social mentions also followed a similar declining trend.

Additionally, bullish sentiment around PEPE plummeted by 81%, which suggested that investors were not expecting a comeback from the meme coin. All these datasets, coupled with the image of a meme coin having no utility, made it seem likely that PEPE might become obsolete in the near future. 

Can the whales save PEPE?

While the majority of the market seemed to have lost faith in the meme coin, whales might swoop in to save the day. Notably, Santiment’s data revealed that whale activity around PEPE remained high even when its price action dwindled.

The data also confirmed that the supply held by top addresses shot up drastically, suggesting that the big players had high hopes for PEPE.

Moreover, after a massive dip, PEPE’s MVRV Ratio also improved slightly, which was a positive signal. Though developments in the recent past suggested that PEPE might not be able to hold its ground, nothing can be said with certainty as the crypto market is infamous for its unpredictable nature.

Whether whales’ confidence in the meme coin actually translates in reality will be intriguing to keep an eye on.