Crypto prices have dropped sharply over the past 24 hours as the market once again faces a wave of liquidations. According to CoinGlass data, a staggering $1.1 billion worth of futures contract positions have been wiped out, a 110% increase from the previous day.
The impact has been devastating for large caps, with Bitcoin falling 6.6%, and top altcoins feeling the effect even more. Ethereum is down 9%, BNB has decreased 12.5%, and XRP has declined 9.5%.
However, some lower-market-cap cryptocurrencies are continuing their upward trend. XPIN Network gained 57% in the last 24 hours, BNB Attestation Service rose 57%, and Boundless surged 60%. Clearly, there are still many opportunities for cryptocurrencies that aren’t closely tied to the performance of market leaders.
Another project showing strong potential is PEPENODE, a new meme coin that features a unique “virtual mining” system, rewarding users for participating in its on-chain game. It has already raised $1.8 million in its presale, showcasing investor confidence, which is exactly what you want to see in these challenging market conditions.
PEPENODE: The world’s first Mine-to-Earn meme coin
Pepe made a name for itself as a community-driven meme coin focused on humor and internet culture, but PEPENODE takes that a step further by adding a real use case. It’s building what the team describes as “the world’s first Mine-to-Earn” meme coin.
Indeed, Mine-to-Earn sounds redundant, as crypto mining is supposed to reward participants. But that’s where the issue lies – crypto mining is expensive to set up and operate. Unless you get your energy so cheaply that it’s practically free, it’s hard to stay consistently profitable. That’s why today, the mining industry is mostly controlled by multi-billion-dollar companies like Mara Holdings and Iris Energy.
Retail users are mostly priced out of mining, so PEPENODE’s Mine-to-Earn offers an alternative. Think of it like Play-to-Earn – the model that went viral in 2021 for rewarding gamers with free tokens for playing on-chain games. However, PEPENODE aims to be more sustainable than earlier iterations like Axie Infinity and STEPN. Here’s how the gameplay works:
- Users start with a virtual server room and must spend PEPENODE tokens to fill it with Miner Nodes.
- They can upgrade these nodes using PEPENODE tokens or combine different node types to achieve varying power outputs.
- They need to generate as much mining power as possible, since this directly impacts how many PEPENODE tokens they’ll earn.
There’s also an in-game leaderboard that tracks how much mining power users generate, and those who rise to the top can earn supplementary rewards in meme coins like Pepe and Fartcoin.
Why whales are flocking to PEPENODE as market crashes
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has dropped 7% in the last 24 hours, marking the worst day of losses since Friday’s flash crash. It’s another challenge for traders to contend with, and highlights the uncertain market conditions caused by the rekindling trade war between the US and China, as well as the effects of the US government shutdown.
As large-cap cryptos decline, whales are shifting capital into assets that could offer protection against losses. For example, stablecoin dominance has increased by about 13% over the past four days, according to TradingView data, indicating that capital has moved toward risk-off positions.
At the same time, presales like PEPENODE have also experienced a surge in demand. Presales occur at fixed and increasingly rising prices, helping to shield against short-term market volatility. As long as the market’s long-term direction remains bullish, presale tokens can be attractive during periods of bearish momentum.
This is why top crypto traders, such as Alessandro de Crypto, have invested in PEPENODE, with the analyst even calling PEPENODE “better than Pepe” in a recent YouTube video.
Alessandro pointed out that what sets PEPENODE apart from competitors like Pepe is its deflationary mechanism. 70% of tokens spent in the PEPENODE store will be burned, creating scarcity-fueled pressure that could support long-term price growth.
Bitcoin reached a $2.4 trillion market cap thanks to its scarcity-focused tokenomics, but even BTC itself lacks a burn mechanism.
We’re not claiming that PEPENODE is the next Bitcoin, but the project introduces a deflationary feature that most cryptocurrencies don’t have – and that could indicate real staying power.
