New memecoin Pepe (PEPE) has entered a sharp correction phase after surging by more than 2,000%<\/a> since its debut a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n On May 3, the PEPE price dropped to\u00a0$0.00000089, down about 35% from its record high of\u00a0$0.00000138 established two days earlier. As a result of the correction, its market capitalization slipped by nearly $80 million, pushing PEPE out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n A mix of technical and fundamental indicators hint at further downside for PEPE price.\u00a0<\/p>\n PEPE\u2019s daily trading volumes declined across centralized and decentralized exchanges<\/a>\u00a0as prices fell. The same occurred<\/a> on Google Trends for the keyword \u201cPepe Coin,\u201d whose score is down from 100 to 7 in a day, suggesting that the retail hype has subsided in the past 48 hours.<\/p>\n The top 100 richest PEPE addresses, aka \u201cwhales,” control 45% of the token\u2019s circulating supply, according to data tracked by the website CoinCarp.<\/p>\n These 100 addresses might belong to 100 different individuals. But one entity can control more than one address, which gives a limited number of whales more say over the direction of PEPE future price trends, increasing risk of price manipulation.<\/p>\n For instance, Lookonchain revealed that five addresses allegedly linked to the Pepe team made a $1.23 million profit in a thin liquid market. They purchased 8.87 trillion PEPE tokens at a low price and sold over 90% of their holdings at a higher price on Uniswap.<\/p>\n Some of the top PEPE holders are centralized exchanges. But, according to data tracked by analyst 008.eth, non-exchange PEPE whales have reduced positions recently, hinting at profit-taking that coincided with the ongoing price correction.<\/p>\n PEPE has rallied without any concrete fundamentals behind it, and the evidence of fewer whales controlling the uptrend could negate the gains in the short term. Technicals concur.<\/p>\n Related:\u00a011 classic memes that have been sold as NFTs<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n For instance, the four-hour chart shows that PEPE\/USDT has formed higher highs, but its relative strength index (RSI) has formed lower highs since April 30. In other words, a bearish divergence that suggests PEPE’s upside momentum will likely weaken in the short term.<\/p>\n In addition, PEPE appears on the road to its 50-4H exponential moving average (50-4H EMA; the red wave) near $0.0000047410, down 20% from current price levels. <\/p>\n A further break below the red wave could have the token test the $0.00000020-0.00000017 range as the next downside target.<\/p>\n Of course, the PEPE token is new and thus lacks adequate price history to anticipate its future price movements. Moreover, memecoins are notorious for their sharp volatility and major price moves.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dogecoin, for instance, has rallied 7,000% since 2020 thanks to vocal support from billionaire investor Elon Musk<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-05\/81f34021-e4ec-4a89-a9db-60a3ff25de9f.png\")
Retail interest falls<\/h2>\n
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PEPE whale distribution is worrisome<\/h2>\n
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20% PEPE correction ahead?<\/h2>\n
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