PEPE Token’s Contract Code Reveals Shocking $8 Million Crypto Lock-Up

SNEAK PEEK

• $8 million worth of $PEPE tokens are locked forever in a blacklisted address.
• The $PEPE contract code includes a blacklist function to control token distribution.
• The deployer blacklisted an address that purchased a large amount of $PEPE tokens during the Uniswap pair launch.

Recently, a Twitter user going by the handle of @0xCygaar shared some interesting facts about the contract code of $PEPE, a token built on the Ethereum blockchain. According to the Twitter user, the most striking fact is that a whopping $8 million worth of coins is locked up forever in a blacklisted address without access. 

Here are some fun facts about $PEPE‘s contract code, including the curious case of $8M worth of coins that are locked up forever 😳: pic.twitter.com/iEiXOFcaZE

— cygaar (@0xCygaar) May 5, 2023

Further analysis of the $PEPE contract code by @0xCygaar has revealed the presence of blacklist functionality that can prevent individuals from sending or receiving tokens. The purpose behind this feature remains unclear, but it raises questions about the level of control that the $PEPE team has over the token’s distribution.

After delving deeper into the $PEPE contract code, @xCygaar discovered that the address “0xAf235…” was indeed blacklisted by the project’s deployer. Apparently, this particular address bought a substantial amount of $PEPE tokens within just a few hours of the Uniswap pair launch. 

However, the PEPE deployer blacklisted the address 8 minutes after the tokens were purchased. As a result, the 2,519,324,010,963 tokens owned by this address are now locked up forever. At the time of writing, these tokens are worth about USD 8 million.

According to @0xCygaar, the $PEPE contract’s blacklist can never be modified because the contract ownership was renounced. This effectively means that all owner-only functions are now permanently disabled, including any modifications to the blacklist.

On the contrary, the Uniswap pair previously enforced a minimum and maximum token amount requirement for an address to purchase tokens. Nonetheless, this restriction was lifted just before the deployer gave up ownership of the pair.