Buy or Sell? Mysterious Wallets Hold 10% of PEPE Tokens After Unprecedented 1000x Surge — Whales or Insiders?
Introduction
Meme coin PEPE has experienced an extraordinary 1000x growth in just four days, turning some investors into instant millionaires. Crypto KOL An Ape’s Prologue has identified a group of wallets that purchased PEPE with a total cost of just 0.61 ETH (approximately $1,210), and have since earned more than $9 million — a 7,500x return.
However, the timing of these purchases raises questions about whether these wallets belong to insiders or merely fortunate individuals.
Unusual Trading Activity
An analysis of trade distribution on Uniswap V2 revealed abnormal activity in the minutes following the start of PEPE trading.
A group of wallets, new to the platform, bought PEPE tokens and still hold them, collectively controlling nearly 10% of the total supply. These wallets can be categorized into three groups:
- Seven wallets originating from the Fixed Float exchange platform purchased 17.7 trillion PEPE tokens for a cost of approximately 0.34 ETH. These wallets now have an unrealized profit of $5.5 million.
2. Two wallets from the ChangeNOW exchange platform bought 5 trillion PEPE tokens for a cost of 0.1 ETH, currently valued at around $1.5 million.
3. A wallet initially funded by ByBit, which then distributed about 0.17 ETH across four wallets, collectively bought approximately 6.2 trillion tokens, yielding a profit of $2.2 million.
Insider Trading or Lucky Timing?
The behavior of these wallets has led to speculation that they may belong to insiders or the development team since they not only bought in at the perfect time but continue to hold a substantial amount of tokens even after the 1000x increase.
It’s worth noting that due to poor on-chain liquidity, selling just 10% of their holdings could cause the token’s value to plummet, making monitoring these “whale” wallets crucial for current holders.
While it’s impossible to confirm whether these wallets are indeed insiders, their actions certainly raise suspicions.
Given the nature and history of Meme coins, it wouldn’t be surprising if these suspicions were eventually confirmed.
Impressive Holding Convictions
On the other hand, it’s worth noting the strong conviction these wallets have shown in holding their positions even after the massive 1000x increase.
A Blacklisted Wallet:
According to a tweet from on-chain observer 0xBobie, the first wallet to purchase PEPE was blacklisted by the developers five days ago. 0xBobie speculates that the PEPE developers blacklisted addresses deemed as bots. The blacklisted address is 0xAf2358e98683265cBd3a48509123d390dDf54534.
Conclusion
While the true nature of these wallets remains uncertain, the extraordinary gains they have made from the meteoric rise of PEPE tokens have attracted significant attention.
As the crypto community keeps an eye on their activities, further developments may provide insights into whether these wallets are merely lucky investors or insiders benefiting from privileged information.
The recent listing of PEPE on LBank (@pepecoineth) adds more legitimacy to the token, potentially leading to increased interest and trading volume.
As more information comes to light and the market continues to evolve, the story of these mysterious wallets and their connection to PEPE’s explosive growth is sure to capture the attention of both the crypto world and beyond.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the writer and not of this platform.
