Pepe price took a hit on Saturday, May 24, following the footsteps of Bitcoin and other altcoins. The second-biggest Ethereum meme coin, Pepe (PEPE), saw its value drop to $0.000014, marking a 14% decline from its peak earlier in the week. The market retreat was triggered by heightened risks in the market on Friday after Donald Trump threatened to slap higher tariffs on European goods and Apple products. Consequently, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies dipped from over $3.5 trillion on Friday to $3.4 trillion on Saturday.
Whale investors in the Pepe market have been reducing their holdings, with data from Santiment indicating a decrease in whale holdings from 165 trillion to 141.2 trillion coins valued at $1.4 billion. This drop in whale holdings is the lowest it has been since November last year, painting a bearish picture for the meme coin. On the other hand, Nansen data reveals that smart money investors have been trimming their positions in Pepe over the past few months, holding 244 billion worth of the coin compared to 380 billion a year earlier. Smart money investors, considered sophisticated and experienced in the market, are known to act swiftly in spotting trend reversals.
Moreover, concerns arise as the balances of Pepe on exchanges have started to climb, with 252.9 trillion coins on exchanges on Saturday, up from the week’s low of 251.3 trillion. This increase in exchange balances is often a warning sign as it suggests more investors are moving their coins from self-custody to sell them off. Despite these bearish signals, Pepe’s technical analysis points to a potential turnaround. The daily chart indicates the formation of a golden cross pattern as the 200-day and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages are on the verge of a crossover. This pattern usually precedes long-term gains in the market. Additionally, Pepe has formed a rounded bottom pattern, typically leading to a continuation of the upward trend. These technical indicators hint at possible gains in the upcoming weeks, with a break above the weekly high of $0.00001625 potentially pushing the price to a record high of $0.00002840.
