Blockchain data is casting doubt on the Pepe “for the people” memecoin launch narrative, with up-to-date analysis suggesting that almost a third of the initial supply was held by a single entity, contributing to sturdy early selling pressure.
Approximately 30% of the Pepe (PEPE) token supply was attached at the April 2023 launch of the Bubblemaps blockchain data visualization platform he claimed on Wednesday in a post on X, adding that investors had been “lied to.”
The same wallet cluster sold $2 million worth of PEPE tokens the day after launch, resulting in significant selling pressure that kept the token from passing the $12 billion milestone. According to to Bubblemaps.
This concentration of Genesis supply contrasts with Pepe’s original branding as “coins for the people.” Design website said the token was launched “secretly” with no pre-sale allocations.
Related: Bitcoin wallets associated with Silk Road move $3 million to up-to-date address
According to CoinMarketCap, the price of PEPE is down 5.7% in the last 24 hours and is down more than 81% in the last year data.
Cointelegraph was unable to contact the team behind PEPE for comment.
Adding to investor concerns, Pepe’s website was exploited in early December, temporarily redirecting users to the malicious Inferno Drainer, a fraud tool used in phishing attacks, wallet drains, and social engineering scams.
Despite PEPE’s shortcomings, some cryptocurrency traders have managed to make millions of dollars on memecoin.
In March, one trader turned an initial $2,000 investment into $43 million by holding PEPE. The trader made a $10 million profit on his position, maintaining a 74% decline from PEPE’s all-time high before selling.
Related: Crypto is approaching a “Netscape moment” as the industry nears a tipping point
The forensic tool targets launches that operate confidential information
The latest findings were revealed thanks to Bubblemaps’ Time Travel feature, a forensic-grade analytics tool launched in May that allows Web3 users to reconstruct historical token distributions to detect early insider activity or coordinated accumulation activities to prevent rug-pulling and memecoin fraud.
Spot tokens with a vast portion of the supply concentrated in a few portfolios can assist investors detect scams such as rug pulls, where insiders wipe out liquidity or stage a massive sell-off, resulting in a pointed price crash that leaves investors with worthless tokens.
Bubblemaps played a key role in detecting suspicious wallet activity associated with multiple memecoins, including the Melania token and a number of phony Eric Trump-themed memecoins.
In one of this year’s most damaging rug pulls, the Wolf of Wall Street-inspired token WOLF crashed 99% in a matter of hours, wiping out nearly $42 million in market capitalization on March 16.
The token was created by Hayden Davis, co-creator of the Official Melania Meme (MELANIA) and the Libra token.
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