Assessing impact of 190B whale dump on PEPE’s price

• PEPE whales offloaded 190 billion tokens within 24 hours after the price approached a three-month low.
• At press time, PEPE was defying the bearish trends after gaining by 7% in 24 hours.

Memecoins remain under bearish pressure following the recent pullback across the market. At press time, the total memecoin market capitalization had dropped by around 1.2% to $79 billion. 

PEPE [PEPE] was defying these bearish trends after posting a 7% gain in 24 hours to trade at $0.0000099 at press time. However, a lack of whale interest could hinder a long-term uptrend. 

Whale selling could impede PEPE’s rally 

Data from IntoTheBlock shows that in the last 24 hours, large PEPE transactions exceeding $100,000 increased four-fold from 8 trillion to 31.9 trillion. However, this rise appears to stem from selling activity.

Large holder netflows have dropped significantly from 159 billion to -37 billion, suggesting that whales sold 196 billion PEPE within 24 hours.

When whales are cashing out, it shows reduced investor confidence, which is bound to weigh on price.

Source: IntoTheBlock

Whale addresses held 48% of the memecoin’s supply. Therefore, if they are in a distribution phase, it could exert downward pressure. 

Key levels to watch 

Sellers remain in control of the price action, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) dropping to 30.

The RSI line also continued to oscillate below the signal line, confirming that the momentum remains bearish.

Source: TradingView

If PEPE loses support at the lower Bollinger band ($0.00000906), it could dip to collect liquidity at $0.00000796.

Conversely, if bulls retain control and the memecoin flips resistance at $0.000014, it could fuel a strong uptrend. Traders need to watch for a reversal of the RSI line.

If it tips north and crosses above the signal line, it will show rising buying pressure that could trigger gains.

Short sellers dominate the market 

The bearish sentiment around PEPE is evident in both the spot and derivatives markets. 

According to Coinglass, Open Interest has increased by 6% in 24 hours to $268 million. However, most of these open positions are from short sellers. PEPE’s Funding Rates have been negative in the last two days, indicating high demand for short positions. 

The Long/Short Ratio has fallen to 0.95, showing more traders opening short positions than long positions.

Source: Coinglass

Read Pepe’s [PEPE] Price Prediction 2025-26

An influx of short sellers in the market shows there is negative sentiment around PEPE as many traders anticipate dips.

However, this scenario could precede a rally if a sudden gain causes the forceful closure of these positions.