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Arkham links $51 million in PEPE to Justin Sun, making him largest individual holder
Arkham Intelligence says wallets tied to Tron founder Justin Sun hold about 2.82% of PEPE's supply, and the token rose after the report.
Key takeaways
- Top individual holder. Arkham says wallets attributed to Justin Sun hold about 2.82% of PEPE's total supply, worth roughly $51.25 million.
- Poloniex withdrawals. Two transfers from Poloniex on October 17 and October 26 moved about $48.76 million worth of PEPE into Sun-linked wallets.
- Price reaction. PEPE gained nearly 12% over the 24 hours to October 28, according to Blockonomi, after the holdings report circulated.
What happened
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has identified Tron founder Justin Sun as the largest individual PEPE holder outside exchanges, according to a report published on October 27. Arkham attributed wallets holding about $51.25 million worth of the memecoin to Sun, or roughly 2.82% of PEPE's total supply. Crypto.news reported that some wallets in the calculation were linked to Sun through blockchain analysis rather than direct confirmation.
Most of the position came through two withdrawals from Poloniex, an exchange associated with Sun. Arkham traced about 7.2 trillion PEPE, valued at $28.44 million, moving from Poloniex to a Sun-linked wallet on October 17 at 14:29 UTC. A second withdrawal on October 26 at 15:54 UTC moved another 4.65 trillion PEPE worth $20.32 million. Together, the transfers totaled 11.85 trillion tokens and were worth about $48.76 million at the time, nearly all of the PEPE attributed to Sun.
Before those transfers, Arkham estimated that Sun held about 68 billion PEPE worth $267,000. By October 27, the two wallets identified in the analysis held about $51.01 million worth of the token, an unrealized gain of more than $2 million compared with the reported value of the recent transfers. Arkham also found $77 million in stablecoin transfers from Sun-linked wallets to Poloniex between October 15 and October 25, but said it had not established that the funds were used directly to buy the PEPE later withdrawn.
First $0.00000421Latest $0.00000496+17.8% over the period
Points are daily observations, not closing prices.
Why it matters
The concentration is notable: wallets attributed to one person hold nearly 3% of PEPE's supply. Crypto.news noted that a large sale from those addresses could put downward pressure on the price, depending on market liquidity; the reports did not say Sun intends to sell. The disclosure also draws attention because Sun is a prominent crypto figure. PEPE remains a speculative token whose trading is heavily influenced by sentiment, according to Crypto.news. Exchange balances are much larger, but they generally represent customer assets rather than platform investments.
What the data shows
At the time of Arkham's report, PEPE had a market capitalization of about $1.81 billion. Binance held $337.5 million worth of the token, or 18.7% of supply, followed by Robinhood with $150.9 million, or 8.37%. Coinbase accounted for 5.03% and OKX for 4.15%. Blockonomi reported that PEPE traded near $0.0000048 on October 28, up almost 12% over 24 hours, within a daily range of $0.0000043 to $0.0000050. Trading volume was about $476 million, and market capitalization stayed above $2 billion. The token had gained about 15% over the previous month but remained well below its December 2024 record high of $0.000028.
Background
Arkham's analysis traced the PEPE through Binance hot wallets before it reached Poloniex deposit addresses. About $20.2 million worth arrived on October 16 in several transfers of roughly $3.1 million each, and another $20.3 million followed on October 26 in transfers of about $6.76 million each. Some tokens passed through HTX before returning to Poloniex and then moving to Sun-attributed wallets. Arkham valued Sun's total on-chain portfolio at approximately $2.29 billion, with the newly identified PEPE accounting for about 2.2% of that sum.
What is still unclear
Some details remain unresolved. Arkham attributed certain wallets to Sun through blockchain analysis, not public confirmation, and Sun had not formally acknowledged the findings as of press time. The firm also said it could not show that the $77 million in stablecoin transfers to Poloniex were used to buy the PEPE. On October 28, Onchain Lens reported a 366.97 billion PEPE deposit to Coinbase worth about $1.64 million and said it could point to a sale, while Lookonchain reported two dormant whales moving a combined 2.27 trillion PEPE worth about $10.19 million. The destination and purpose of those transfers were not clear.
What to watch
Canary Capital has filed an amended registration statement for a proposed PEPE exchange-traded fund, but the fund remains a proposal and has not launched. Sun's response to the report and any movement from the attributed wallets are also points to watch.
Questions readers ask
How much PEPE does Arkham attribute to Justin Sun?
Arkham estimates wallets linked to Sun hold about $51.25 million worth of PEPE, or 2.82% of the total supply.
Did Justin Sun confirm the holdings?
The reports said Sun had not formally acknowledged the information as of press time.
What is the proposed PEPE ETF?
Canary Capital has filed an amended registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a PEPE ETF, but it remains a proposal and has not launched.
