A significant amount of the Pepe PEPE/USD meme coin, valued in the millions, was observed entering crypto exchanges on Thursday.
This sudden influx alarmed investors, leading to a decline in its price and raising concerns about unusual activities related to the project's multisig, one of the primary holders of this satirical cryptocurrency.
The token's market value decreased by $100 million, dropping from $444.4 million to a low of $344.7 million, following the widespread news of the multi-million-dollar token transactions on social media.
A staggering 16 trillion tokens were transferred from the PEPE multisig wallet around noon, heading to addresses linked with Binance, OXK and Bybit.
1/4
— ASXN (@asxn_r) August 24, 2023
1 hour ago, the Pepe multisig wallet, changed the amount of signatures required on their multisig from a 5/8 to 2/8. This comes after sending $15.7 million worth of $PEPE to exchanges.
A breakdown of what we know: pic.twitter.com/bxBxp6Nzqz
This transfer was detected shortly after crypto analysts identified unsettling modifications in the management of the multisig wallet's transaction approvals.
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The updated protocol indicated that now only "two out of eight" wallets were needed for transaction authorization, a shift from the previous "five of eight" requirement.
This marked the first instance of the project's crucial multisig dispatching of the meme coin.
Following these revelations, PEPE's value experienced a 16% drop.
Miles Deutscher, a crypto analyst, stated that while profit-taking in crypto was normal from a team's perspective, the suddenness/obscurity of the transactions, coupled with the lack of communication raised some red flags.
"However, for those willing to take on some risk — it's important to note that PEPE is sitting on major support. From a technical perspective, if we see a decent response here — it may be a good buy," he said.
"But for the majority, the safest thing to do (as usual in these situations), is to let the dust settle and reassess in a week or so when we have more clarity," he added.
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