PEPE Coin Team Members Sell $16M worth of PEPE
The Pepecoin project faces controversy as $16 million is withdrawn from its multisig wallet, leading to a price drop and rug pull fears.
The cryptocurrency space is no stranger to volatility, but when a coin's price plummets due to internal disputes and alleged misconduct, it will capture headlines. Such is the case with the Pepecoin (PEPE) project, which recently witnessed a significant withdrawal from its multisig wallet, leading to widespread speculation and concern among its community.
On August 24th, the PEPE community was taken aback when they noticed a whopping $16 million worth of PEPE being withdrawn from the project's multisig wallet. This sudden move led to a sharp 15% drop in the coin's price, sparking fears of a potential rug pull.
An anonymous founding member of the project later clarified the situation. In a post, they revealed that three ex-team members were responsible for the unauthorized withdrawal. These individuals allegedly logged onto the multisig, withdrew 60% of the tokens, and then sent them to various exchanges for sale. Following this, they removed themselves from the multisig and deleted all their associated social accounts.
The remaining founding member sought to reassure the community, stating that the remaining 10 trillion PEPE in the multisig are now secure. They will be transferred to a new wallet, where they will remain until a decision is made regarding their use or potential burn.
an announcement to the $PEPE community:
Yesterday on August 24th, 2023, a series of unexpected transactions took place from the $PEPE multisig CEX
Wallet in which ~16 Trillion $PEPE tokens (worth roughly $15m USD) were transferred to various crypto exchanges (OKX, Binance,… pic.twitter.com/iZmXV1TAvw — Pepe (@pepecoineth) August 26, 2023
However, this incident has cast a shadow over the project. Since its inception, PEPE has faced internal conflicts, with certain team members allegedly hindering its progress. With these individuals now out of the picture, the remaining member expressed optimism about the project's future, emphasizing their commitment to the community's best interests.
The PEPE multi-sig wallet, which was at the center of this controversy, is one of the largest holders of the meme coin. Following the withdrawal, more than 16 trillion tokens were sent to addresses associated with major exchanges like Binance, OKX, and Bybit. Specifically:
- $8.2 million worth of PEPE was sent to OKX
- $6.5 million was directed to Binance
- $434,000 went to Bybit
- An additional $400,000 was transferred to an unknown wallet
This massive transfer constituted approximately 3.8% of the entire token supply. Furthermore, there were changes detected in the transaction approval requirements for the wallet. Previously, five out of eight wallets needed to consent for a transaction. This was altered to just two out of eight, raising further concerns.
The market's reaction to these events was swift. PEPE's value experienced a significant drop, with a 24% decline in just 24 hours. At its lowest, the coin's value dipped to $0.000000811657 from a peak of $0.00000111. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicated that the meme coin was being oversold.
