PEPE Drops 6% Amid Crypto Sell-Off as Whales Boost Holdings

Meme-inspired cryptocurrency PEPE slid nearly 6% over the past 24 hours, hitting a low of $0.0000107, even as large investors continued to accumulate the token. The drop coincided with a broader crypto market pullback, with the CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index falling 1.8%, while memecoins bore the brunt of the decline.

Trading volumes for PEPE surged into the trillions of tokens during the sell-off, reflecting the token’s struggle to find support amid heavy selling pressure. The CoinDesk Memecoin Index lost almost 5% over the same period, whereas bitcoin dipped just 0.8%.

The recent weakness comes amid renewed altcoin season speculation, fueled by expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut, which investors anticipate could boost risk assets.

On-chain data from Nansen indicates that the top 100 non-exchange Ethereum wallets holding PEPE increased their stakes by 1.38% over the past week, reaching 307.33 trillion tokens. In contrast, exchange wallets reduced holdings by 1.45%, now totaling 254.4 trillion tokens, suggesting accumulation by long-term holders.

Technical Analysis Snapshot
CoinDesk Research’s technical model points to a market in retreat. PEPE’s price fell from $0.000011484 to $0.000010782, with sellers dominating trading activity. The token briefly tested resistance at $0.000011732, seeing volumes surge to 5.5 trillion tokens before reversing lower.

Support levels weakened as PEPE brushed $0.000010746, with trading activity spiking to 7.7 trillion tokens, reinforcing bearish sentiment. The token’s price whipsawed within a 9% intraday range, highlighting ongoing uncertainty among traders over whether key support can hold.