Can PEPE make a comeback? Traders, analysts and Pepe maxis weigh in

The biggest new memecoin of 2023, Pepe (PEPE) suffered one of the worst possible fates that can befall a new crypto asset; a partial rug pull — after its anonymous developers abruptly sold nearly $16 million worth of the token on Aug. 24. 

The official Pepe X (formerly known as Twitter) account explained the drop was due to “three ex-team members” going behind their back and selling the tokens without their knowledge — a move that saw the price of Pepe plummet as much as 26% in the days following, without much respite. 

an announcement to the $PEPE community:

Yesterday on August 24th, 2023, a series of unexpected transactions took place from the $PEPE multisig CEX
Wallet in which ~16 Trillion $PEPE tokens (worth roughly $15m USD) were transferred to various crypto exchanges (OKX, Binance,… pic.twitter.com/iZmXV1TAvw

— Pepe (@pepecoineth) August 26, 2023

In the wake, crypto investors and memecoin enthusiasts are still scratching their heads — pondering if the frog-themed token could ever hope to return to pre-rug prices. 

Speaking to Cointelegraph, crypto trader Reetika Trades saw some potential positivity for PEPE, despite admitting the manner in which the devs sold wasn’t ideal. She believes that the event will ultimately have “negligible effects” on the token’s outlook in the long run.

“It’s a memecoin with no promise of utility, so some devs leaving makes no difference to the token,” she said.

“By selling a lot of the coins now, the threat of the total number of potential coins the devs could dump on people has reduced in the future — which is healthier in the long run.”

However, Reetika also pointed out that Pepe is a memecoin that has made its name by being forward that it is  fundamentally worthless and has no underlying value upon which to price it. As a result, the price of memecoins are prone to extreme volatility, and any investment in these assets should be treated as more akin to gambling.

Similarly, pseudonymous trader Horse said that getting the remaining supply of the tokens out of the hands of the developers who sold was a beneficial move long term, especially if it’s “attempting to become similar” to Dogecoin (DOGE).

“I think it will make a comeback.”

These sentiments were echoed in a report from crypto data provider Kaiko, which noted that despite the sudden crash in price, the liquidity of the memecoin held up surprisingly well.