In a shocking development, the PEPE community was rocked by a series of unexpected transactions on August 24, 2023. The incident involved the theft of around 16 trillion PEPE. Approximately $15 million, from the project's multi-signature CEX portfolio. These tokens were later transferred to prominent cryptocurrency exchanges including OKX, Binance, Kucoin, and Bybit. The number of signers required for a multisig wallet has also been reduced to just 2 out of 8 wallets.
PEPE Coin Team Provides an Explanation An unexpected transfer of tokens and a drop in signatories has created chaos in the PEPE community. PEPE's official Twitter account revealed. In an effort to provide transparency, the stolen tokens were once part of the CEX wallet. The team explained that this portfolio was never intended for market sales or the team's personal profit.
The episode reveals the internal tension PEPE has experienced since its inception. Which was characterized by disagreements and conflicts between team members. Within the first week of project submission, a significant portion of the team broke away. Including team members with big egos and greed, about the project. They slowed the process down by refusing to sign, arguing, and prolonged non-response.
The crisis comes to a head as three former members of the team re-emerge to orchestrate the theft of 16 trillion tokens. Which constitutes 60% of the total holdings of multisig. These former members carried out the transfers without authorization. Which subsequently erased all traces of their involvement in the project. The remaining 10 trillion tokens are now under the control of a team member who is committed to the well-being and prosperity of the project.
The team reports that the aftermath of the incident saw most, if not all, of the stolen tokens quickly sold off on the OKX and Binance exchanges. To prevent further misuse, the remaining 10 trillion tokens will be transferred to a new wallet. The affected member is also working to acquire web domains and usernames for PEPE and intends to burn the rest of the tokens when these acquisitions are complete.
PEPE Bullish Despite Setback Despite this unfortunate news and confusion, PEPE price is very bullish today. The price is up nearly 7% in the past 24 hours and is now trading at $0.0000009045. Its market capitalization has increased by 3.40% and now stands at $354.98 million.
In the midst of the crisis, the official PEPE Telegram group remains closed due to hacking. The main communication channel now is @pepecoineth on Twitter. With the new official group links shared there. Meanwhile, the community is warned not to fall for airdrop, staking, coinage, or claim scams. Whereas, the official PEPE team does not engage in such practices.
Despite the setback, the remaining PEPE community members are determined to steer the project toward a decentralized and anti-fragile future. The incident highlighted the need for caution among the cryptocurrency community and telecoms before acting in any way affecting wallets and tokens.
