One of the most trending meme coins of 2024, Pepe (PEPE), is struggling to hold its ground as Bitcoin price and other top altcoins prices fluctuated heavily in the first week of 2025. Pepe had faced several critical moments when smart money drove a comeback. However, the fresh data shows that the whales are dumping their PEPE holding amid the rush.
On Wednesday morning, the meme crypto category printed red indexes all around. The cumulative market cap of meme tokens dropped by over 11% in the last 24 hours, while trading volume spiked by 52% to stand at $15.22 billion. The biggest meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) plunged by 12% and 11%, respectively.
Whale sell-off hits PEPE hard
As per the data shared by Spot On Chain, a whale deposited 210 billion PEPE (approx. worth $4 million) to Kraken. This whale had offloaded over 427 billion PEPE (approx. worth $8.45 million) in the last 48 hours. He is still holding more than 1 trillion PEPE tokens (approx. worth $18.4 million).
The whale wallet has earned profits of over $13.45 million which includes $11.4 million made from the first trade. This dump comes in when PEPE price has dropped by 11% in the last 24 hours and the same whale can be a major reason behind this drop.
A smart whale deposited 217B $PEPE ($4.54M) to #Kraken 5 hours ago, likely securing a $767K profit (+20%) again in just 17 days.
The whale still holds 1.21T $PEPE ($25.1M) across 2 wallets, with another $4.05M in unrealized gains!
Notably, earlier in 2024, this whale had made… pic.twitter.com/kQ8BCLfgN7
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) January 7, 2025
The smart whale dumped around 217 billion PEPE (approx. worth $4.54 million) on Kraken yesterday. He likely secured a $767K profit again in just 17 days while holding $25 million worth of the meme token across 2 wallets.
PEPE under pressure
Pepe price has dropped by 28% in the last 30 days taking it down by 7% on the year to date (YTD). PEPE is trading at an average price of $0.00001838, at press time. It is down by a huge 35% from its all time high (ATH) of $0.00002825, recorded on December 9, 2024. Its 24-hour trading volume stands at $1.94 billion.
As Bitcoin price slides below the $96,000 level, Pepe Coin’s momentum also seems to be fading away. Price remains pressured, with declining trading volume and social dominance signaling waning interest. Its daily trading volume fell to $1.4 billion on Tuesday, down from $18 billion in November, which is the lowest in over two months.
Data from LunarCrash shows a slight rise in social dominance recently, but levels remain well below last year’s peak. Lower volume and social chatter can signal falling interest and it can be seen as a bearish indicator. Yet, it could also hint at accumulation by smart money investors, setting the stage for a potential rebound.
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