PEPE price faces downward pressure at the end of the year as whales sell off en masse

Pepe (PEPE) declined about 2% at the time of writing on Wednesday, marking the fourth consecutive week this meme coin has been in the red. Since the beginning of the week, PEPE has lost nearly 4% of its value, indicating that selling pressure has yet to show signs of easing. Notably, this frog-themed coin is gradually losing support from large holders—commonly known as “whales”—amid market derivative data reflecting a trading sentiment increasingly leaning toward negativity.

From a technical perspective, PEPE’s price outlook remains bleak, with the risk of further decline back to the December 18 low around 0.00000363 USD.

Waning whale confidence increases selling pressure

Large wallet holders (whales) are gradually reducing their positions in PEPE, thereby increasing supply pressure and sending a clear signal of weakening market confidence. According to data from Santiment, wallets holding between 100 million and 1 billion PEPE now hold only 10.77 trillion tokens, equivalent to 2.54% of the circulating supply, down from 10.87 trillion PEPE (2.57%) recorded on December 1.

PEPE supply distribution | Source: SantimentIn the derivatives market, data from CoinGlass shows that open interest in PEPE futures contracts increased by 3.56% in the past 24 hours, reaching $209.11 million. This indicates traders are injecting more capital and accepting higher short-term risk levels.

However, the negative funding rate of -0.0052% reflects a market sentiment still leaning toward bearishness, as most traders are willing to pay fees to maintain short positions (Short), suggesting that negative outlooks still dominate.

PEPE derivatives data | Source: CoinGlass## Technical outlook: Can PEPE break the December low?

PEPE continues its downward reversal after being rejected at the short-term resistance level, formed by connecting the peaks on 12/9 and 12/22 on the 4-hour logarithmic chart, around 0.00000400 USD. At the time of reporting, PEPE was down about 2% on Wednesday and remains under correction pressure, with the nearest target being the December 18 low at 0.00000363 USD—coinciding with the S1 Pivot at 0.00000364 USD.

In a more negative scenario, if the price breaks below this support level, the decline could extend to the S2 Pivot at 0.00000326 USD.

PEPE/USDT 4-hour chart | Source: tradingView Momentum indicators on the 4-hour chart reinforce the weakening trend. The RSI has fallen to 39 and continues downward into oversold territory, indicating increasing selling pressure after reversing from the neutral line. Meanwhile, the MACD line remains in a downward trend and below the signal line, reflecting increasingly dominant bearish momentum.

Conversely, to open up a clearer recovery outlook, PEPE needs to successfully conquer the 0.00000400 USD zone. A breakout and sustained close above this level would confirm a breakout of the resistance line, paving the way for the price to target the Pivot R1 at 0.00000439 USD.