New analysis challenges PEPE’s ‘for the people’ narrative
Blockchain data visualization platform Bubblemaps has raised serious questions about the memecoin PEPE’s launch story. According to their analysis, about 30% of the initial token supply was bundled together at launch in April 2023. This finding directly contradicts the project’s original branding as a “coin for the people” that launched “in stealth” with no presale allocations.
I think what’s particularly concerning here is the timing. The same wallet cluster that held this concentrated supply reportedly sold $2 million worth of PEPE tokens just one day after launch. That kind of early selling pressure can really impact a token’s trajectory, and Bubblemaps suggests it prevented PEPE from reaching what might have been a $12 billion market cap milestone.
The mechanics of the alleged concentration
Bubblemaps used their Time Travel feature to uncover these findings. It’s a forensic analytics tool they launched in May that lets users reconstruct historical token distributions. The goal is pretty straightforward: detect early insider activity or coordinated accumulation efforts before they lead to rug pulls or other scams.
When you see a large portion of supply concentrated in just a few wallets, it raises red flags. These situations often precede rug pulls where insiders remove liquidity or stage mass sell-offs, leaving regular investors with worthless tokens. It’s not just theoretical either—Bubblemaps has previously uncovered suspicious activity around other memecoins like the Melania token and various fake Eric Trump-themed projects.
Context and market impact
PEPE’s price has been struggling lately, down 5.7% in the past 24 hours and over 81% in the past year according to CoinMarketCap data. Adding to investor concerns, Pepe’s website was exploited earlier in December, temporarily redirecting users to a malicious inferno drainer scam tool.
Cointelegraph tried to reach the PEPE team for comment but couldn’t get a response. That’s not unusual in the memecoin space, but it does leave questions unanswered.
What’s interesting, though, is that despite these issues and the overall downward trend, some traders have managed to make significant profits. One trader turned $2,000 into $43 million by holding PEPE, though they did sell after a 74% decline from the all-time high, realizing a $10 million profit.
Broader implications for memecoin launches
This situation highlights a recurring problem in the memecoin space. Projects often market themselves as community-driven or “fair launches” while potentially having concentrated early distributions. The WOLF token rug pull earlier this year wiped out nearly $42 million in market cap in just hours, showing how damaging these situations can be.
Perhaps the takeaway here is that forensic tools like Bubblemaps are becoming increasingly important for investors. They provide a way to look beyond marketing narratives and examine the actual on-chain data. It’s not perfect—nothing in crypto is—but it’s another layer of due diligence that might help people make more informed decisions.
The memecoin space continues to be a mix of genuine community projects and what sometimes feels like sophisticated pump-and-dump schemes. Tools that help distinguish between the two are valuable, even if they occasionally reveal uncomfortable truths about popular projects.
