Pepecoin drops nearly 50% from highs as traders likely taking profits for Ether

Pepecoin (PEPE) holders may be taking profits on their positions following one of the most spectacular rises in the history of alternative currencies (altcoins) with an almost 5,000,000% rise in the past few weeks.

The tokens are down nearly 45% after setting a peak of $0.00000431 on Friday, reaching a market capitalization of $1.8 billion just over three weeks since issuance in mid-April.

This price drop was likely exacerbated by traders taking profits on their positions or utilizing advanced trading strategies following the introduction of several pepe-tracked futures in the past week.

These profits are likely being converted into ether (ETH), which hit an all-time high in deposits to exchanges since November 2021, when it set a lifetime high of $4,500 at the time.

As per a Monday tweet, on-chain analytics firm Santiment stated that the increasing number of ether deposits could be stemming from traders taking profits on their pepe positions.

“Exchange addresses interacting on the network is now at its highest level since November, 2021. As expected, $ETH is showing decoupling signs and on the cusp of breaking $2k once again,” Santiment said.

As such, some traders have converted mere pittances into generational fortunes in the span of a few days after investing in pepe coins right after their issuance.

As CoinDesk previously reported, a pseudonymous trader named dimethyltryptamine.eth spent $263 just three weeks ago to buy trillions of PEPE tokens, selling a part of the holdings for over $3.8 million in profits. The trader continues to hold over $5 million worth of the tokens as of Monday.

Such meteoric fortunes aren’t the norm, however: Analysts have repeatedly raised concerns about the behavior of investors who bought relatively large amounts of PEPE after its issuance on the Ethereum blockchain – opening the risk of too much of the coin in too few hands looming over the short-term future of the trending meme coin.