The price of Pepe coin (PEPE) has tanked over 20% since yesterday due to community distrust over recent changes to the developers’ multisig crypto wallet.
These changes sparked fears of a potential rug pull, prompting many investors to liquidate their holdings in advance.
With Pepe's future uncertain, two new meme coins are looking to take the spotlight – Wall Street Memes (WSM) and Sonik Coin (SONIK).
Pepe price in freefall as community trust plummets
Pepe’s price is hovering around $0.00000087 at the time of writing, the lowest since June 15.
Price broke below the minor support zone at $0.0000010, and there seems to be no immediate sign of a recovery.
The community's apprehension will likely keep the pressure on PEPE in the near term, with further downside expected if confidence doesn't return soon.
Unfortunately for PEPE bulls, this could be a challenging task, given the surprise changes made to the team's multisig wallet on Thursday.
As noted by digital asset research firm ASXN, the Pepe multisig wallet changed the number of signatures required from five to just two – a change that came immediately after the wallet sent $15.7 million worth of PEPE to exchanges.
This large transfer was split into four smaller transactions, valued at between $350,000 and $7.4 million.
Naturally, this odd sequence of events has led many in the crypto community to believe the token’s developers are planning a rug pull, where they cash out while they can and abandon the project.
Reducing the number of signatures required to move funds means the developers now have much more control over PEPE’s total liquidity.
Moreover, sending tokens to exchanges right before this change has only exacerbated fears that the developers are looking to cash out their holdings, potentially leaving other investors in the lurch.
At the time of writing, the developers’ wallet still holds over 10.6 trillion PEPE tokens - equating to $9.3 million.
Unsurprisingly, these actions have undermined trust in the token, leading to a rapid decline in both price and community support.
Pepe alternatives: Wall Street Memes prepares for tier-1 exchange debut after raising $25m
The recent price drop and collapse of trust surrounding PEPE has opened up attention for new meme coin projects.
Wall Street Memes (WSM) is one coin which has quickly built up a loyal following of over 1.1 million people ahead of its potential Tier-1 exchange listings.
The WSM presale has raised over $25 million – making it one of the most successful meme coin presales of 2023.
This presale is now in its final stage, with the current price for WSM token at $0.0337.
As noted in Wall Street Memes’ whitepaper, the development team has reserved no WSM tokens for themselves, with 30% of the total supply set aside for community rewards (e.g., giveaways and airdrops).
The buzz around Wall Street Memes is further fueled by an anonymous wallet holder's $1 million purchase of WSM in early August, according to Etherscan.io data.
This could potentially indicate interest from the “whale” community ahead of WSM’s open market debut, scheduled for September 27.
As doubts grow around established names like PEPE, the community-driven Wall Street Memes token could offer a high-risk new meme coin alternative for people to consider.
Sonik Coin offers memes coin staking as presale raises over $450,000 in one week
Another new meme coin that’s getting attention is Sonik Coin (SONIK).
This market newcomer has raised $450,000 through its presale phase. . Priced at $0.000014, the Sonik Coin presale will go until the tokens are listed on Uniswap – an event that’s scheduled for once the $2 million hard cap has been hit.
According to Sonik Coin’s staking dashboard, holders can potentially earn yields of up to 147% per year, with over 16.3 billion SONIK tokens already staked.
The combination of a meme-style aesthetic and advertised real-world utility has caught the eye of many in the crypto community, leading to over 1,000 people following the Sonik Coin Twitter account in just seven days.
Ultimately, as doubts emerge around PEPE, Sonik Coin could present a potential alternative for meme coin enthusiasts – making it a token worth monitoring.