PEPE founder doxxed on Twitter, following suspicious internal transfers, 16% decline in meme coin

08/25/2023 08:08:15 GMT|ByEkta Mourya

PEPE founder was doxxed by Jeremy Cahen, founder of an NFT marketplace, Not Larva Labs.
Zachary Testa, a photographer known by pseudonyms on Twitter, is allegedly the PEPE founder.
PEPE price dropped 16% following the suspicious transfer of 16 trillion PEPE tokens to exchanges, likely linked to the project’s founder being doxxed.

PEPE meme coin’s founder was doxxed in a tweet by an NFT marketplace founder early on Friday morning. Jeremy Cahen, the founder of Not Larva Labs, revealed that Zachary Testa, a landscape photographer, has been doxxed as the founder of PEPE.

According to on-chain intelligence tracker Look on Chain, the PEPE team moved 16 trillion of the meme coin’s tokens to crypto exchanges, leading to panic among holders. The meme coin’s price dropped 16% within a 24-hour timeframe as early buyers and PEPE holders dumped their tokens, responding to the uncertainty surrounding the project.

Also read: PEPE price crashes by 15% due to scam FUD, sudden 16 trillion PEPE transfer to exchanges

Who is the PEPE founder?

Zachary Testa, known by his pseudonyms @degenharambe and @LordKekLol on Twitter, is a landscape photographer and violator of trespassing norms on various sacred indigenous lands. Testa has been identified as the PEPE founder after confirming his connections with the listings team of leading cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance.

@pepecoineth Dox:

Here is Zachary Testa aka @degenharambe aka @LordKekLol on TG from Phoenix, AZ.

He infamously bought an $865k purple Lambo with his $pepe earnings, all while his team didn’t give a cent to original Pepe the Frog creator @Matt_Furie. pic.twitter.com/93SO79bIXs
— PAULY (@Pauly0x) August 24, 2023

Testa came under the spotlight for his purchase of an $865,000 purple Lambo while not sharing earnings from the project with the creator of PEPE the frog meme, Matt Furie.

Cahen shared crypto wallet addresses linked with the PEPE creator in his tweet:

0x8d2a5bdfc692ad912af77016fc75b49856c369f1
0xea40b0f6BA2aD77fF2FedAe98Ca67EaefCBCBE4A (badussy.eth)
0x9c46a675350ce1f7ca616bf4fb4e0a542295e302
0x40962b448aa899196906646340cb4eb61a8d49b4

The mysterious transfers made by PEPE’s team, when they moved 16 trillion meme coin tokens to exchanges, raised suspicion in the crypto community and this is likely linked to Testa getting doxxed.

A multi-sig wallet linked to the PEPE team moved $15.5 million in tokens to exchanges like Binance, Bybit and OKX, resulting in a subsequent sell-off by early buyers and PEPE coin holders.

Another early buyer of $PEPE also dumped 932B $PEPE for 524 $ETH($870K) after the Pepe team deposited 16T $PEPE to exchanges.https://t.co/EiUQUrHWqc pic.twitter.com/CHWL7NeA5w
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 25, 2023

While initially the multi-sig wallet required five of eight associated wallets’ approval, the criteria was changed to two before the mysterious transfers began. This roused suspicion in the crypto community. As PEPE holders grappled with the uncertainty, the token’s price has declined to $0.00000087 on Binance.

Bitcoin, altcoins, stablecoins FAQs

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, a virtual currency designed to serve as money. This form of payment cannot be controlled by any one person, group, or entity, which eliminates the need for third-party participation during financial transactions.

What are altcoins?

Altcoins are any cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin, but some also regard Ethereum as a non-altcoin because it is from these two cryptocurrencies that forking happens. If this is true, then Litecoin is the first altcoin, forked from the Bitcoin protocol and, therefore, an “improved” version of it.

What are stablecoins?

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable price, with their value backed by a reserve of the asset it represents. To achieve this, the value of any one stablecoin is pegged to a commodity or financial instrument, such as the US Dollar (USD), with its supply regulated by an algorithm or demand. The main goal of stablecoins is to provide an on/off-ramp for investors willing to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins also allow investors to store value since cryptocurrencies, in general, are subject to volatility.

What is Bitcoin Dominance?

Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined. It provides a clear picture of Bitcoin’s interest among investors. A high BTC dominance typically happens before and during a bull run, in which investors resort to investing in relatively stable and high market capitalization cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. A drop in BTC dominance usually means that investors are moving their capital and/or profits to altcoins in a quest for higher returns, which usually triggers an explosion of altcoin rallies.

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