A new token named after Pepe the Frog, the infamous meme and cartoon character created by Matt Furie, has entered the meme coin economy. The token is called Pepe (PEPE) and, at the time of writing, it has become the sixth largest meme coin asset in terms of market capitalization, valued at just over $130 million. However, amid the rapid rise, both website coinmarketcap.com and Web3 security startup Gopluslabs have warned that the contract owner may have the ability to modify the transaction tax and blacklist feature. .
PEPE market grows despite contract modification warnings
Doge and the other dog friends in the meme economy have a new companion, but this time, the newcomer is a frog, specifically Matt Furie’s Pepe the Frog. The coin pepper (PEPPER) it hasn’t been around for very long, appearing on the scene on April 18, 2023. According to current statistics, PEPE is up more than 400% from the coin’s all-time low on the day it began trading. Two days later, on April 20, PEPE’s market valuation peaked at $165 million. The number of pepe tokens in circulation is 420.69 billion and at the time of writing there are 29,756 PEPE holders.
So far, the cryptoactive has registered 122,368 transfers. Of the 29,756 PEPE owners, the top ten wallets command 17.25% of the total offer. Furthermore, according to PEPE enriched list statistics, the top 100 PEPE holders own 44.51% of the entire token supply. At coingecko.com, PEPE ranks #245 of 10,755 crypto assets, and the meme coin economy page of the web portal shows that PEPE is the sixth largest meme coin asset in terms of market cap size. On coinmarketcap.com (CMC), PEPE is ranked #2,605 out of 23,473 cryptocurrencies listed on the website.
CMC’s PEPE page also contains a warning link that says: “According to Gopluslabs, the contract owner may contain the authority to modify the transaction tax and contain the blacklisting feature. Be careful before taking any action and DYOR”.
CMC also shared the Gopluslabs Page that analyzes the PEPE contract. CMC shares warnings like this for other coins, such as Crypto AI (CAI), which state: “According to Gopluslabs, the smart contract of the following asset can be modified by the contract creator (for example: disable the sale, change the fees, mint new tokens or transfer tokens). Be careful before taking any action and DYOR”. If the PEPE team has the authority to modify the transaction tax, it would go against the tokenomic ethics of the project.
“No taxes, no nonsense**. It’s that simple”, the PEPE tokenomics page details. “93.1% of the tokens were sent to the liquidity pool, the LP tokens were burned and the contract was relinquished. The remaining 6.9% of the supply is held in a multi-sig team wallet only to be used as tokens for future centralized exchange listings, bridges, and liquidity pools. This wallet is easily traceable with the ENS name ‘pepecexwallet.eth’”. The PEPE web portal also shows an image of the frog urinating on top meme assets like SHIB, DOGE and APE.
Not the first ‘Pepe the Frog’ crypto asset and probably not the last
PEPE roadmap he has high aspirations as phase three of the plan is to produce “generational wealth” and create a “Pepe Academy”. At the end of phase three, he also says “flip Bitcoin”. Furthermore, the PEPE website insists that the team and project have “no association” with Matt Furie or his creation, Pepe the Frog.
PEPE is not the first crypto asset to use the name and image of Pepe the Frog, as there are several others dedicated to the famous meme, such as arbi pepper, pepesol, pepemoon, mcpepe’s, PEPE.bet, learnand babypepe.. Besides, cash pepper was created long before PEPE and the rest of these assets to bolster the community of collectors and creators of digital artworks using the Counterparty blockchain and original Rare Pepe NFT trading cards.
The new PEPE token website claims that the crypto asset is not a financial vehicle with real promises. “PEPE is a meme coin with no intrinsic value or expectation of financial return,” the website reveals. “There is no formal team or roadmap. The currency is completely useless and for entertainment purposes only.”
What do you think about the rise of Pepe (PEPE) in the meme coin economy, and do you think the contract owner’s ability to modify the transaction tax and blacklist feature is cause for concern? Share your opinion in the comments section below.
image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any product, service or company. bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
