What happened?
Pepe, a top memecoin, has slid to a one-year low after losing about 40% over the past year. Funding rates fell to multi-month lows, signaling traders are staying cautious about leveraged positions. Open interest also dropped to roughly $200 million, showing lower speculative activity overall.
Who does this affect?
This hurts retail traders and short-term speculators who rely on momentum and leverage, since low funding and open interest make big moves less likely. Long-term holders face risk if the key support around 0.0000052 breaks and triggers further selling. Other meme-coin projects and exchanges could see reduced volume and liquidity as attention and capital shift away.
Why does this matter?
The market impact is that low volume (around $300M daily) and a 30 RSI mean Pepe is at a delicate inflection point that could either spark a fast rebound or a deeper drop. If volume returns and support holds, there’s potential for a rapid rally targeting higher resistance levels and raising market sentiment; if support fails, it could push memecoins into a prolonged downturn. Overall, this shapes risk appetite and liquidity across the broader meme-coin sector and may redirect capital to new projects like PepeNode if traders look for alternatives.