One of the crypto world’s most influential whales, identified as 0x373, has shifted strategy. This whale , which has been under scrutiny for its huge holdings and trading activity, now appears to be withdrawing from the wild meme-coin market and parking its assets in the far-more-stable DeFi space. Recent trades indicate that 0x373 has stopped riding the meme coin hype wave and is now making a serious bet on DeFi assets, with purchases of $PENDLE. In an intriguing move, the whale unloaded a significant portion of its $PEPE holdings, which had been a staple in its portfolio. Specifically, the whale dumped 196.1 billion PEPE tokens, amounting to $1.3 million; it swapped these for 720.6 WETH (Wrapped Ether). This swap, priced at an average of $0.000006641 per PEPE, is the latest in a series of moves that show the whale growing more and more confident in the future potential of DeFi projects. A Shift Toward PENDLE: The Whale’s Bold Move Instead of keeping its freshly obtained ETH, the whale made yet another audacious move—using a hefty chunk of its WETH reserves to snap up 397,192 $PENDLE tokens. At $3.08 a pop, this buy totaled nearly $1.22 million. This shows the whale’s hand; it’s betting on the future of PENDLE, which as a decentralized finance token seems to be carving out an interesting niche. The token, it should be said, has been getting attention lately for its purported asset tokenization and yield optimization solutions. For three consecutive days, 0x373 has made significant trades that suggest he is becoming more and more convinced about PENDLE’s potential. The whale first traded PEPE, selling 261.2 billion of the assets for 1,060 WETH, which was worth approximately $1.94 million. Then, in a move that appears to directly counteract his first trade, the whale purchased 607,863 PENDLE tokens using 1,016 WETH. That amount was worth roughly $1.86 million, and he bought the tokens at an average price of $3.066 each. Even after these large trades, the whale’s investment in meme coins remains large. It holds a staggering 2.597 trillion PEPE tokens, worth about $18.05 million. On that investment, it’s made a profit of roughly $28.41 million, for a total return of around 5.25 times what it originally put into PEPE. A major crypto whale, 0x373, seems to be making a bold shift in strategy—trading meme coin hype for DeFi potential. Over the past 13 hours, the whale sold 196.1B $PEPE ($1.3M) and swapped it for 720.6 WETH, averaging $0.000006641 per PEPE. But it didn’t stop there. pic.twitter.com/iYoAuJahLg — EyeOnChain (@EyeOnChain) April 4, 2025 So, why did this whale recently swap some PEPE for PENDLE? One potential reason is that it reflects a shift in what sorts of assets the whale is holding. Compared to PEPE and other meme coins, PENDLE is a much more serious investment. The Bigger Picture: A Changing Crypto Landscape Whale’s movement from meme coins to DeFi reflects broader crypto market shifts. Despite meme coins like $PEPE captivating the public and giving people a feel for the potential scale of growth in the crypto market, we at Decrypt have begun to see some signs, or signals, that investors are questioning the future sustainability of these kinds of coins. Their value almost seems to sink or swim with the current price of ether. Conversely, decentralized finance schemes such as $PENDLE are gaining momentum for their real-world applications and their possible long-term value creation. PENDLE, which aims to focus on the tokenization of yield-bearing assets, has caught the attention of investors hunting for innovative ways to unlock liquidity and optimize returns in DeFi. This is a space where you must truly look beneath the surface, as much of what is going on in DeFi outside of PENDLE may appear pond scummy. And yet, the pivot toward DeFi in this crypto winter is also a pivot toward looking for value beyond the narrative we were fed in 2021. Whale 0x373 moving to PENDLE could be a sign of something very different from what we’ve seen before in this address. For 0x373, the apparent move from CRV to PENDLE could be an effort to maximize yield and liquidity and a step toward future-proofing these assets. DeFi has become a key pillar of the crypto ecosystem, and projects like PENDLE are positioned well within this space. If the address is holding these assets for the long term, it could signal something very different in terms of strategy for this whale. Looking Ahead: More PEPE-to-PENDLE Swaps? Considering the recent maneuvers by the whale—and its ongoing shift in strategy—it seems pretty likely we’ll be seeing more PEPE-to-PENDLE swaps in the days ahead. The huge amount of $PEPE still held by the whale—along with some pretty decent profits on that asset—suggests that the whale is still using PEPE as a key part of its overall portfolio, rebalancing into PENDLE and other DeFi plays as part of a larger emerging strategy. For the broader crypto community, the recent actions of 0x373 serve as a reminder that the biggest and most influential players in crypto are always adjusting their strategies to meet the market. While many investors find allure in meme coins, the move towards DeFi reflects a broader trend within crypto towards assets that have much more long-term utility and growth potential. As DeFi projects like PENDLE continue to mature, the space could see much more interest from large investors looking for innovative ways to use crypto in the real world. In summary, 0x373’s shift in strategy from meme coins to DeFi assets like PENDLE demonstrates the crypto market’s shifting nature. As the industry has grown up, investors who put their money where their mouth is have started focusing more on the types of projects that have actual long-term potential and real-world applications. Those of us who are trading and investing in DeFi may be trailblazing the next big movement within the crypto ecosystem. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news !