Key Takeaways:
- Malicious elements recently stole nearly 16 trillion PEPE tokens from the project’s wallet.
- One of the founders blamed the rest of the team.
- A Pepe spinoff had its flash-in-the-pan moment.
NEW DELHI (CoinChapter.com) — The crypto sector saw several meme-based projects, or memecoins, blossom into existence between March and May earlier this year. Pepe coin (PEPE) was one of the projects that gathered massive hype during the so-called’ memecoin season.’
Similar to flowers, most of these spring-born projects withered and died. Some projects turned out to be scams, stealing users’ money. However, Pepecoin supporters kept their faith and stuck with the project, which claims lofty goals on its website, including AI-based projects.
However, the project came into trouble when the project’s founders nearly rug-pulled all the users. On Aug 24, Pepecoin’s multisig wallet changed its threshold to 2/8 signatures.
On-chain data provider Lookonchain revealed that the Pepe multi-sig wallet deposited about 16 trillion PEPE tokens (worth nearly $18 million) to various exchanges. Afterward, the Pepe wallet had about 10.7 trillion PEPE tokens left.
Who Took The PEPE Tokens?
PEPE token’s official X handle released a statement from the only ‘remaining‘ founder, who claimed that other founders had gone rogue and stolen the funds. The founder alleged that the project had suffered from internal strife since its inception and blamed everything on the other founders.
As a result of the founder’s claims, PEPE price spiked by 11.1% on Aug 29. It seems PEPE continues to enjoy investor support, especially from crypto influencers like Jason Williams, a pro-Bitcoin influencer. Williams asserted on X that the project was fine “and always will be.”
However, it is important to know that 10 trillion PEPE tokens remain, presumably in the hands of a single founder. Pepecoin’s assurances are likely meant to drive prices up before the second stage of the rugpull happens.
Furthermore, it seems that Pepecoin using influencers to shill its token, which presents new dangers for traders. Users who trust the token again could face another rug pull. Since all the founders are pseudonymous, it is unclear who controls the project.
Additionally, there is no proof exonerating the remaining founder from the rug pull, and it is difficult to take a pseudonymous person at their word. Moreover, there is a slight chance that disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was involved with the project.
SBF’s involvement, if true, does no good to Pepecoin’s credibility.
Crypto X Labels PEPE A Scam
Meanwhile, several users took to X and labeled Pepecoin a scam project and the theft of the tokens a rug pull scam.
A crypto trader with the X handle Astro asked Binance if there would be an action against PEPE following the rug pull. Several users asked for a delisting of the token.
Crypto analyst ‘Wolf‘ labeled the project a scam, stating that investing money in a token like PEPE was inviting trouble. Given the lack of real-world use cases and the project effectively becoming a one-man (or founder) show, Pepecoin’s future is now at the mercy of the founder’s whims.
Another rug pull can happen any day.
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