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Meme coins are on a bullish run this week, with some of the biggest names on the market, including Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and PEPE, seeing massive gains. Although this price rally may not be directly linked to the meme coin frenzy itself, crypto analysts are speculating it is linked to the performance of Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s most popular digital asset.
At the start of February 2024, BTC started to rise and has since gained over 55% of its value, according to data provided by CoinMarketCap. The hike is speculated to have been aided by the recent approval of Bitcoin ETFs as well as the upcoming halving.
PEPE, the third biggest meme coin by market capitalization, saw its price surge by 254% in the past week —up from $0.000002100 levels to currently sitting at around $0.000007480 as of March 5, 2024, according to CoinMarketCap.
According to data published on Twitter by Lookonchain, the surge in PEPE’s price could have been driven by whale accumulation, as two whales bought $4.9 million worth of PEPE tokens earlier today. But who has the most PEPE to capitalize on the rally?
Let’s look at the largest PEPE holders and where the cryptocurrency could be headed in the future.
Key Takeaways
- Memecoins, including DOGE, SHIB, and PEPE, have experienced significant gains, potentially driven by the recent surge in BTC’s price and favorable market conditions.
- PEPE has seen a remarkable 254% price surge in the past week, which could be partly attributed to whale accumulation.
- Recent whale activity showed five wallets, assumed to be controlled by the same entity, selling 970 billion PEPE coins, making substantial profits since purchasing the digital assets.
- The top 10 PEPE owners collectively hold over 45% of the total token supply, a significant portion indicating potential influence over price movements.
- Celebrities like Elon Musk have historically influenced meme coin ownership through endorsements and online activity.
Who Owns the Most PEPE? Top 10 PEPE Holders
PEPE holders were exceptionally active on March 5, 2024, according to data provided by Lookonchain.
Anndy Lian, the author of NFT: From Zero to Hero, speculated that PEPE’s recent price jump might have been driven by a combination of factors, including a surge in demand and popularity of meme coins and the viral marketing and social media campaigns put out by the PEPE team and community.
Lookonchain found that five wallets, that are assumed to be the same person, sold 970 billion PEPE tokens, making around $5.66 million in profit since purchasing the tokens on January 15, 2024, for $1.18 million at the time.
5 wallets (probably the same person) sold 970B $PEPE for 6.85M $USDT 8 hours ago, making ~$5.66M(+479%) in only 50 days!
These 5 wallets withdrew 970B $PEPE($1.18M at the time) on Jan 15.https://t.co/7Yd7sobzlahttps://t.co/WCgq1Bymlihttps://t.co/RfJE0ZhfGI… pic.twitter.com/XTTTVI06de
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 5, 2024
According to the provided data, which was collected through Etherscan, these are the five wallet addresses:
- 0x570cFE86ec71Cdae2D104a5A8F316d20de3C26F1
- 0xFB37D526991EBeb92EE0C9B6D7EbD4a5C9c24f02
- 0xd0dcf500901D9296a1F3489955857B0367103AF1
- 0x43d9325467e3EdA336C7fa34cbA0991E9A38fAAF
- 0x5c77655D1C768d6f6386Bc4CD85aeCB9F8f714b2
Additionally, another PEPE holder with the following wallet address 0x522e48ce64d357743935d932f4854b31e0928472 deposited 200 billion tokens (amounting to $1.48 million) to Binance for profit, according to data on Etherscan, holding onto an additional 400 billion ($2.91 million) tokens.
But are these the biggest PEPE holders?
The total number of PEPE tokens in circulation as of March 5, 2024, surpasses 420 trillion coins, according to data published on CoinMarketCap.
As of the same date, CoinCarp noted that PEPE was held by 171,107 individual wallets. The top 10 PEPE owners held over 45% of the total token supply, and the top 100 held over 73%, showing that these whales could yield significant influence over where the price of the cryptocurrency could be headed.
Ethercan provided similar data but noted that the total number of PEPE holders stands at around 171,956 individual wallets.
| # | Address name | Quantity | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0xf977814e90da44bfa03b6295a0616a897441acec Binance8 |
86,937,371,231,577 | 20.67 |
| 2 | 0x6cc5f688a315f3dc28a7781717a9a798a59fda7b OKX |
23,359,359,502,097 | 5.55 |
| 3 | 0x5a52e96bacdabb82fd05763e25335261b270efcb Binance28 |
19,793,289,492,570 | 4.7 |
| 4 | 0xf89d7b9c864f589bbf53a82105107622b35eaa40 Bybit: Hot Wallet |
15,497,168,347,419 | 3.68 |
| 5 | 0x16b2b042f15564bb8585259f535907f375bdc415 Kraken33 |
9,592,676,526,587 | 2.28 |
| 6 | 0xf3b0073e3a7f747c7a38b36b805247b222c302a3 Crypto.com6 |
9,090,087,727,861 | 2.16 |
| 7 | 0x28c6c06298d514db089934071355e5743bf21d60 Binance14 |
8,767,537,942,522 | 2.08 |
| 8 | 0x835678a611b28684005a5e2233695fb6cbbb0007 | 7,242,850,000,000 | 1.72 |
| 9 | 0x000000000000000000000000000000000000dead | 6,917,069,267,049 | 1.64 |
| 10 | 0xd6216fc19db775df9774a6e33526131da7d19a2c KyCoin6 |
5,635,658,884,120 | 1.34 |
According to the data provided above, the top 10 PEPE owners hold trillions of tokens, meaning that the whales conducting most major token movements earlier today are much lower on the list. The wallet holding 400 billion PEPE tokens is the 83rd biggest PEPE billionaire, according to CoinCarp.
Lian noted that whales may have different investment strategies, especially when it comes to PEPE, because the top 10 holders own a big amount of the total supply. This makes it harder for investors to predict their actions, which may not “necessarily be coordinated”.
Musk’s Impact on the PEPE Market
Celebrities have been a long-time known factor for wielding influence in memecoin ownership, with some of the most prominent names online, like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban promoting DOGE, for example.
According to the official PEPE coin website:
“$PEPE is a meme coin with no intrinsic value or expectation of financial return. There is no formal team or roadmap. the coin is completely useless and for entertainment purposes only.”
And because of this, recent price hikes and PEPE millionaire investments could be associated with people wanting to jump in on a trend and FOMO.
Lian said:
“The increasing popularity and demand for meme coins, especially after the success of Shiba Inu and Dogecoin, created a FOMO (fear of missing out) effect among investors and traders who wanted to catch the next big wave.”
A recent tweet reply by Elon Musk, stating that the entrepreneur will soon start posting memes again could have further triggered the positive movement amid top holders of PEPE.
Fine, I will get back on the meme grindstone 😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2024
Although Musk has never spoken about owning PEPE directly, his online activity has previously proven to have influenced the token’s price. On May 13, 2023, the entrepreneur posted a tweet featuring the token’s mascot, Pepe the Frog, which led the token to surge by nearly 50% in just 24 hours.
Investing in PEPE Is Simply “Fun”
Lian explained that you can never know for certain why whale accounts are buying into a certain cryptocurrency or not.
“Whales may be buying into the coin for various reasons, such as speculation, diversification, or support. Some whales may be buying PEPE as a speculative investment, hoping to profit from its price fluctuations or future growth. Others may be buying PEPE as a way of diversifying their portfolio, adding some exposure to the meme coin sector.”
On a more personal note, Lian saw the investment as a way of supporting the project and meme culture and showing appreciation for a project and its community.
“After so many years in the space, if a crypto investor would value ‘intrinsic value’ higher, I would ask him to go and buy more ‘stonks’. To me, it is fun or entertainment, enjoying the thrill or humor of investing in a meme coin that makes a bull market more exciting. Of course, none of this is financial advice.”
The Bottom Line
The recent bullish momentum in PEPE’s price reflects a good period for crypto markets. While whale movements and the concentration of PEPE coins among the 100 top holders could raise some questions about market dynamics and potential influence on price movements, the light-hearted nature of the memecoin tends to draw investors in.
The information in this article does not constitute investment advice and is meant for informational purposes only.
It’s essential to conduct in-depth research and invest solely within your financial comfort zone, acknowledging the possibility of total loss. This investment is high-risk, and you should be prepared for the absence of safeguards in adverse scenarios.
