Share this article

Pepecoin Drops Nearly 50% From Highs as Traders Likely Taking Profits for Ether

Some holders have turned pocket change into fortunes after getting into the very early stages of pepe.

Updated May 11, 2023, 8:32 p.m. Published May 8, 2023, 7:16 a.m.
jwp-player-placeholder

Pepecoin (PEPE) holders may be taking profits on their positions following one of the most spectacular rises in the history of alternative currencies (altcoins) with an almost 5,000,000% rise in the past few weeks.

The tokens are down nearly 45% after setting a peak of $0.00000431 on Friday, reaching a market capitalization of $1.8 billion just over three weeks since issuance in mid-April.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

This price drop was likely exacerbated by traders taking profits on their positions or utilizing advanced trading strategies following the introduction of several pepe-tracked futures in the past week.

These profits are likely being converted into ether , which hit an all-time high in deposits to exchanges since November 2021, when it set a lifetime high of $4,500 at the time.

As per a Monday tweet, on-chain analytics firm Santiment stated that the increasing number of ether deposits could be stemming from traders taking profits on their pepe positions.

“Exchange addresses interacting on the network is now at its highest level since November, 2021. As expected, $ETH is showing decoupling signs and on the cusp of breaking $2k once again,” Santiment said.

As such, some traders have converted mere pittances into generational fortunes in the span of a few days after investing in pepe coins right after their issuance.

As CoinDesk previously reported, a pseudonymous trader named dimethyltryptamine.eth spent $263 just three weeks ago to buy trillions of PEPE tokens, selling a part of the holdings for over $3.8 million in profits. The trader continues to hold over $5 million worth of the tokens as of Monday.

Such meteoric fortunes aren’t the norm, however: Analysts have repeatedly raised concerns about the behavior of investors who bought relatively large amounts of PEPE after its issuance on the Ethereum blockchain – opening the risk of too much of the coin in too few hands looming over the short-term future of the trending meme coin.

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

XRP Faces Downside Risk as Social Sentiment Turns Wildly Negative

(Midjourney/Modified by CoinDesk)

The turn in crowd mood comes after a two-month slide of roughly 31%, leaving the token vulnerable to further downside if risk appetite weakens across majors.

What to know:

  • XRP's price approached the $2 mark as social sentiment around the token turned sharply negative, according to Santiment data.
  • The token has experienced a 31% decline over two months, making it vulnerable to further losses if market risk appetite weakens.
  • Santiment's sentiment model indicates XRP is in a 'fear zone,' where negative commentary significantly outweighs positive talk, potentially influencing market positioning.