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Markets

Next Pepe Coin: Police Bust Crypto Gangs as PENGU and WIF Trail Their Peaks, While Buyers Pile Into Pepeto for 500x

Everyone who missed PEPE in 2023 is hunting the next pepe coin, and crypto crooks are hunting those buyers right back. Sharjah police seized more than AED 200 million, about $54 million, from

AnonymousCryptoCompass newsroom
October 18, 2026
5 min read
NEWS
Next Pepe Coin: Police Bust Crypto Gangs as PENGU and WIF Trail Their Peaks, While Buyers Pile Into Pepeto for 500x
CryptoCompass editorial visual for markets coverage.

Everyone who missed PEPE in 2023 is hunting the next pepe coin, and crypto crooks are hunting those buyers right back. Sharjah police seized more than AED 200 million, about $54 million, from four crypto gangs, Coin Edition reported on October 16.

The prize everyone chases is real. PEPE launched on April 17, 2023, per Fast Company, and passed $1 billion within 18 days, per The Block. PENGU and WIF chased that run and now trade far below their peaks.

In a hunt full of fake investors, Pepeto stands out for the opposite reason: its team is named and audited. Pepe's own cofounder built it, and buyers have put in over $11.1 million while it is still unlisted, the spot PEPE held in April 2023.

Sharjah Police Arrest 33 in a Crypto Gang Case Worth AED 8.83 Billion

Police in Sharjah broke up four crypto crime networks in an operation called "End of the Battle," Coin Edition reported on October 16. Officers arrested 33 suspects from 12 countries.

The gangs posed as investors to win trust, then forced victims to give up wallet passcodes. They moved AED 8.83 billion in dirty money, per Gulf Business.

For a meme coin buyer, the lesson is simple. A stranger's promise proves nothing, so the smart buy is the one you can check before you pay.

The Next Pepe Coin Hunt: One Presale With a Track Record, Two Memes Still Down

Pepeto: Pepe's Cofounder Is Back, With a Scanner That Blocks Trap Tokens

Those gangs earned trust by pretending to be investors. Pepeto earns it the other way, with names and checks anyone can see. That trust shows in the money, with more than $11.1 million in so far at $0.00000019 per token in the current stage.

The exchange, PepetoSwap, is live and easy to use. You link a wallet such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet or Phantom, pick a token, and swap with a 0.00% fee. Your coins stay in your own wallet the whole time.

The real shield works before each trade, when a security scanner reads the token for you. It runs 42 checks on the code, then tests a buy and a sell on a copy of the chain.

You get a score from 0 to 100, and tokens with critical flaws are blocked by default. In one live case, a coin scored 6, its sell test failed, and the trade never went through. Without that check, a buyer would only find the trap after paying for it.

Pepeto holds itself to the same standard. SolidProof ran its audit and the team's KYC, and a former Binance expert sits on the dev team. No one has to take a promise on faith.

A Binance listing is approaching, and analysts project 500x for Pepeto from here. The price rises at every new stage. For anyone after the next pepe coin, this is the seat PEPE's first buyers had in April 2023.

PENGU Sits 86% Below Its Peak as Its Home Chain Winds Down

Pudgy Penguins' coin, PENGU, trades at $0.007587, per CoinMarketCap, about 86.8% under its December 2024 peak of $0.05738. Abstract, the chain tied to Pudgy Penguins, shuts down on December 15.

Only about $3.9 million of its $76 million was still there by October 14, CryptoTicker reported. PENGU is a known brand, but it needs about 7.6x just to see its old high.

WIF Trades 96% Under Its High, Even After a 4% Day

Dogwifhat, or WIF, trades at $0.2019, per CoinMarketCap, about 95.8% below its $4.85 peak from March 2024. On October 16, WIF rose 4.11%, and open bets on its futures grew 7.35% to about $13.39 million, TokenPost reported.

Yet WIF needs 24x to reach its old high. The big gains went to the buyers who held before its 2024 run, and that early window closed long ago.

Next Pepe Coin Verdict: PEPE Hit $1 Billion in 18 Days, and Pepeto Has Not Listed Yet

The Sharjah bust, PENGU's closing chain and WIF's long fall teach one lesson for the next pepe coin hunt. A famous meme alone is not enough, and Pepeto brings more: a live exchange and a scanner that blocks traps.

At today's price, $1,000 buys about 5.26 billion tokens. At the 500x analysts project, that stake would be worth $500,000.

PEPE's first buyers got in before the crowd had a reason to look, and that same seat is open now on the Pepeto official website. In April 2023, the biggest gains went to wallets that moved before listing, and this stage is that same moment for Pepeto.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

What is the next pepe coin?

The next pepe coin is Pepeto, because Pepe's own cofounder built it and it still sits before listing, where PEPE's first buyers stood. Analysts project 500x from here.

Why do traders choose Pepeto over PENGU and WIF?

Because PENGU and WIF already paid their early buyers and sit 86% and 96% down, while Pepeto has not even listed. Its current stage runs on the Pepeto official website.