Presumed Smart Trader Printed Huge Sum Trading PEPE, Community Senses Fraud

Meme coins are known to have extremely volatile price actions, and the latest rally in Pepe the Frog (PEPE) meme coin has turned a trader into a millionaire. According to insights shared by crypto analytics provider Lookonchain, the trader spent 0.125 ETH worth about $251 at the time of purchase of 5.9 trillion PEPE tokens.

According to the insights, this initial capital investment surged 4,500% in value and is now worth as much as $1.14 million.

The SmartMoney is the luckiest guy I've seen recently.

He spent 0.125 $ETH ($251) to buy 5.9T $PEPE ($1.14M currently) 4 days ago.

If he sells at the current price of $0.0000001933, he will get a profit of ~$1.14M, more than 4,500x.https://t.co/cUqMO6zIVO pic.twitter.com/Ex5voyRvsa

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 19, 2023

It is not uncommon for traders to make gigantic sums like this in today's crypto ecosystem, where there may be a lot of hype surrounding a particular meme coin. Thus far this year, there has been a small number of meme coins with significant growth momentum besides PEPE. BONK, a Solana-based digital currency, impressed its community early in the year with parabolic gains.

One defining factor for meme coins, however, is that their growth fades off quite quickly. The more than 7,500% growth PEPE has printed over the past few days, as reported by U.Today, might be unsustainable in the long run. BONK's hype has faded away, and so may PEPE's hype.

The massive gains raked in by the trader have led to suspicion considering the concentration of large quantities of PEPE in a few addresses.

Community reaction to smart trader

Numerous community members have been commenting on the supposed trade and the bogus earning the trader raked in from it. Many believe the smart money trader is a core developer in the project, which is perhaps using the token to lure users into an imminent rugpull.

While those who believe the 4,500% gain is feasible, the said sum accrued was largely disputed owing to liquidity constraints on PEPE tokens as an asset on a decentralized exchange. PEPE, nonetheless, is a major sensation that both whales and retail traders are keeping an eye on for now.