PEPE slides as whales lose interest, traders engage in profit-taking

PEPE (PEPE) posts losses for a third consecutive session on Monday as on-chain metrics show a sharp decline in large-volume transactions from whales and a spike in profit-taking in the last six days. Both indicators suggest that more downside for the meme coin’s price is likely, with PEPE currently trading at $0.00000731. 

On-chain metrics signal decline in PEPE

Data from crypto intelligence tracker Santiment shows two emerging trends in the frog-themed meme token:

• First, the count of large-volume transfers of PEPE took a hit in the last six days.
• Second, PEPE traders realized relatively high profits of nearly $30 million in the same time frame. 

Whale transaction count and network realized profit/loss for PEPE 

The two trends point at a loss of interest from large-wallet investors as PEPE holders shed their tokens for net profits on four of the six days, between September 10 and 16. The Network Realized Profit/Loss (NPL) metric measures the net profit/ loss of all tokens traded in a day, positive spikes show profit-taking and negative spikes are realized losses. 

If profit-taking activities continue, it could negatively influence PEPE price, as selling pressure is typically associated with a decline in prices. 

Meanwhile, whale transactions – or those valued at $100,000 or higher – dropped from 129 on September 10 to 36 on September 16, a 70% decline. 

The last time PEPE noted such a massive spike in profit-taking was on July 9, after which the meme coin erased nearly 9% of its value within four days.