- 57 new anonymous wallets, with no transaction history, have made the initial investment in PEPE, raising suspicions.
- Less common protocols, such as Fixed Float and Uniswap Universal Router, were deployed by the suspected insiders.
In an exclusive investigation, Sasha, the co-founder of Arcanum Ventures delves into the mysteries surrounding PEPE, one of the most sensational memecoins of recent times. Building on his previous report, he scrutinized the early on-chain transaction data. Shortly after the complete token supply of Pepe was minted, a staggering 93% of these tokens were swiftly transferred to the Liquidity Pool (LP).
Immediately following the massive token migration into the Liquidity Pool, a flurry of buy transactions swept through the Pepe ecosystem, totaling approximately half a percent of the entire token supply.
Participation of Newly Created Wallets
A multitude of these transactions were executed by 57 newly created wallets, devoid of any prior transaction history. This mysterious happening raised questions about the identities and intentions of these anonymous investors.
Moreover, this pointed towards a meticulously coordinated insider operation aimed at swiftly acquiring a substantial chunk of Pepe token supply upon its integration into the Liquidity Pool, with the intent to cash in on substantial gains once Pepe garnered heightened hype and speculation.
The analysis involved a thorough examination of Pepe’s price history aligned with the speculative token transactions. Each of the 57 unknown wallets invested around $50 in PEPE, only to later cash out profits, nearing a staggering quarter of a million dollars per wallet.
Massive Gains
As per the co-founder, the implications are potentially coordinated effort, suggesting that a single individual or a well-coordinated group might have pocketed over $10 million within a mere one-week timeframe.
Also, Sasha aims to construct a character profile based on their on-chain activity, transaction history, and possible interactions with other assets.
He addressed a critical question that might have crossed many minds: How did these seemingly new wallets, with no prior assets, execute their PEPE purchases? The answer lies in the existence of funding transactions that provided them with a sufficient supply of Ethereum (ETH) needed for their acquisitions.
Diving Deeper
The next investigative step was to explore these funding wallets, which took Sasha even deeper in on-chain data, potentially shedding more light on the coordination he suspected.
According to Etherscan, on April 14th, around 8:00 PM GMT, a wallet executed its first recorded transaction—buying PEPE. This timestamp served as the entry point for uncovering the probable funding transaction that preceded it.
Upon further examination of transactions, Sasha identified a transaction just 20 minutes prior to the buy, where 0.06 ETH flowed into the wallet. This seemingly came in via “FixedFloat,” a non-custodial exchange that is integrated with Lightning Network.
The investigation then extends to encompass a multitude of new wallet addresses. These addresses were analyzed using a transaction behavior workbook specifically designed for this purpose. Numerous wallets were assessed, filtered by their primary funding asset, and pulled relevant data from various on-chain API integrations.
As a result, the investigation could ascertain the number of transactions, both incoming and outgoing, for each wallet, as well as the respective volume of ETH. This analysis yields valuable insights, allowing them to map out the flow of Ethereum across these wallets and link them to potential funding sources.
Critical ‘Golden Hour’ and PEPE Insiders
The co-founder revealed that all 57 suspected wallets that snapped up PEPE during the critical “golden hour”, were funded by just eight sources. It becomes apparent that these funding transactions occurred within a two-hour window right before PEPE’s 93% token supply moved into the Liquidity Pool.
Looking closer at these funding sources, the investigator highlights that 13 wallets were powered by the FixedFloat hot wallet. Additionally, 32 wallets were supplied by the Uniswap Universal Router, a protocol within the Uniswap ecosystem that enhances transactional flexibility. These findings emphasize that the coordinated purchases might have been executed by insiders tied to Pepe’s creation.
Mysterious PEPE Insiders?
Adding to the intrigue, the investigator notices a couple of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) designations in the mix. For instance, he came across “beautifulbabbys.eth” and “dancebabbydance.eth,” which, despite their peculiar names, offer vital clues. The similarity in names, incorporating “babby”, suggests a connection between the wallet owners. This points to a coordinated effort in the early stages of PEPE’s launch, possibly implicating these individuals as insiders or founders of the project.
The transaction history reveals a diverse array of assets, some of which may be microcap altcoins, given the volume of tokens being exchanged. Interestingly, the latter ENS owner was also identified as investing in other coins such as Ribbit (RIBBIT) and Wagmi Coin (WAGMI).
Furthermore, he examines the time intervals between their buy and sell transactions. Sasha stated that he would carry on with the investigation and come up with more key aspects, where he would delve even deeper into the identities behind these transactions. He intends to monitor the communities in crypto Twitter, Telegram, and Discord, studying how these individuals interact.
In conclusion, the investigator pieced together a preliminary profile of the individuals possibly behind these transactions using simple on-chain data analysis. For now, he concluded an outlook—this appears to be a coordinated insider transaction campaign, possibly orchestrated by PEPE’s creators.
