Pepe (PEPE) surges 9%, drawing interest from whales

Key takeaways

PEPE is up 9% in the last 24 hours, making it one of the best performers among the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
The rally comes amid renewed interest from whales and retail investors.

Pepe (PEPE) has extended its gains by roughly 9% at press time on Thursday, as the broader cryptocurrency market recovers from a risk-off sentiment following truce negotiations between the US and Iran.

With large wallet investors, commonly referred to as whales, reaccumulating PEPE, and retail interest steadily rising, the frog-themed meme coin is gaining traction.

PEPE rallies as the broader market recovers

The cryptocurrency market’s recovery is sparking a shift toward risk-on sentiment, with traders becoming more optimistic.

This has led to renewed attention on meme coins, including Pepe. Data from CoinGlass shows that the PEPE futures Open Interest (OI) has surged by 20% in the past 24 hours, reaching $228.67 million.

This increase suggests that more traders are betting on PEPE’s price to increase in the near term.

Furthermore, large wallet investors holding over 100 million PEPE tokens are steadily rebuilding their positions, signaling a long-term bullish outlook.

Santiment data reveals that investors with holdings ranging from 100 million to 1 billion PEPE tokens now own 10.64 trillion PEPE, up from 10.59 trillion on February 15. Investors with over 1 billion PEPE tokens now control 3.64 trillion PEPE, up from 3.60 trillion in late February, reinforcing the interest of whales in the asset.

Technical outlook: Can Pepe sustain its rally?

The PEPE/USD 4-hour chart continues to be bearish and inefficient despite rallying above the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) for the second consecutive day.

PEPE is now trading at $0.000003877, testing the 100-day EMA at $0.00000411, with no clear directional bias.

A decisive daily candle close above this level could pave the way for further gains, potentially reaching the 200-day EMA at $0.00000550.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 62, suggesting moderate momentum with potential room for further upside before entering overbought territory.