Pepe Coin (PEPE) pulled back after an 80% rally, leaving traders to weigh strong whale flows against a fragile derivatives backdrop. On‑chain and market-data reports highlighted concurrent accumulation and distribution by large holders, plus elevated leverage that could amplify a reversal.
Large, strategic buys and large exits have occurred almost simultaneously. Data cited a notable $16 million PEPE acquisition allegedly routed through Kraken, while another movement logged a $3.7 million exit to Coinbase and the redistribution of roughly 2.8 trillion PEPE tokens. Such opposing whale behaviour undercuts a single narrative: some addresses are aggregating, others are taking profits.
Derivatives activity elevates the stakes. Open interest stood at about $446.5 million with cumulative long liquidation exposure near $218 million — a sign of heavy leverage. Market participants were using leverage ranging from roughly 10x to 100x, which, according to the analysis, increases susceptibility to cascading liquidations if price swings widen.
Technical picture and levels to watch for PEPE holders
Technically, analysts pointed to a year‑long falling‑wedge structure and bullish MACD crossovers as conditional supports for further upside. At the same time, the Relative Strength Index reading in the mid‑70s indicated overbought conditions and flagged the plausibility of a correction.
Short-term indicators also showed price momentum had already produced a 15% weakness over a recent week, underlining the fragile nature of the current consolidation.
For compliance and product teams, elevated exchange inflows and concentrated token movements increase monitoring needs for custody risk, withdrawal congestion and AML review triggers; for trading desks, liquidation heatmaps and open interest dynamics should inform position sizing.
Investors now face a binary path: if PEPE reclaims and holds ~$0.0000078, the technical case for a materially larger advance strengthens; if it breaches the lower supports, rapid deleveraging could accelerate downside.
The coming sessions will therefore test whether current whale accumulation underpins a sustainable rally or whether profit‑taking and crowded longs force a deeper correction — a decisive flip of $0.0000078 into support will serve as the immediate test for the bullish thesis.
