Author: Nancy, PANews
The moment Pump.fun officially announced the issuance of coins, the already tense string on the chain tightened again. Some criticized it for its inflated valuation after being surpassed by competitor LetsBONK, while others worried that it would take advantage of the situation to drain the last wave of liquidity and quietly leave the market.
Public offering started with a valuation of 4 billion US dollars, and contract trading was opened before spot trading
On the evening of July 10, Pump.fun, which had repeatedly rumored news of issuing coins, finally broke its silence and officially announced that it would launch the initial token issuance (IC0) of its native token PUMP on July 12, and promised that a large-scale airdrop was about to be carried out.
According to official disclosure, the total supply of PUMP tokens is 1 trillion, of which 33% is used for ICO sales, 24% is reserved for community and ecosystem plans, 20% is allocated to the team, 13% is allocated to existing investors, and the rest is allocated to the ecosystem fund and foundation.
This IC0 will sell 150 billion PUMP tokens at a unit price of 0.004 USDT, accounting for 15% of the total supply, with a total financing of 600 million US dollars, corresponding to an overall project valuation of approximately 4 billion US dollars.
Unlike most popular projects that often choose to land on leading platforms such as Binance, this Pump.fun public offering will be conducted through trading platforms such as Bitget, Bybit, Kraken, and Gate.io. Participants can use assets such as bbSOL, SOL, or USDT to purchase. Surprisingly, Binance Futures announced the launch of PUMP/USDT perpetual contract pre-sale trading before the PUMP public offering. This public sale will continue until the tokens are sold out or until 14:00 UTC on July 15. It should be noted that users in the United States and the United Kingdom will not be able to participate in this ICO due to compliance issues.
According to the PUMP release schedule, the tokens allocated to the team and existing investors will be gradually unlocked starting in July 2026; the portion allocated to the community and ecosystem plan will be gradually unlocked from the first day of token issuance and will be distributed in July 2026 Complete; other token shares allocated to IC0, liquidity+exchange, and foundation will be fully unlocked on the first day of token issuance. In addition, officials said that PUMP tokens will open transfer functions within 48 to 72 hours after the end of the sale, and free transactions will not be open for the time being in the initial stage.
Subsequently, Pump.fun founder Alon simultaneously released a tweet revealing the key development strategies for the future: 1. Improve the quality, sustainability, and diversity of listed tokens: In the future, the creator revenue sharing mechanism will be extended to CTO projects, and the fee structure will be further adjusted. 2. Double down on the social field: Further invest in and focus on Pump.fun's live streaming function. 3. Continue to invest in creating a user experience. 4. Expand the team size: The team's infrastructure has been initially built and has more than 70 core members, covering engineering, data, security, trust and compliance, legal, operations, and growth; the team will continue to actively expand through recruitment and strategic acquisitions, and the first acquisition will be officially announced soon.
Pump's issuance of coins is met with unanimous criticism, and the founder's past remarks are 'slapped in the face'
Currently, the liquidity and sentiment of the MEME market are very different from what they used to be. As the long-term leader in the MEME sector, Pump.fun is now not only facing a significant decline in daily revenue and daily active users, but is also being surpassed in market share by competitor LetsBonk (related reading: Letsbonk's Reverse Takeover as the 'Coin Issuance Platform' Dominates, Surpassing Pump.fun in Multiple Metrics). However, Pump.fun launched a public offering with a valuation as high as $4 billion, triggering unanimous doubts and criticisms in the community, and even being accused of potentially draining the already limited market liquidity and further exacerbating market weakness.
More embarrassingly, Pump.fun founder Alon's past remarks have also been dug up by the community, which can be described as a 'slap in the face'. Alon said in March 2024 that pre-sales must conduct marketing to prove the valuation is reasonable, which brings huge performance pressure. The only benefit of pre-sales is that you can put the funds raised into your pocket. Conclusion: Every pre-sale is a scam. Not only that, he also bluntly said that exchange listings are dead, and the lack of transparency in listings will lead to violations and poor currency choices.
In the view of IOSG Ventures partner jocy, although Pump.fun once created the glory of 700 million US dollars in protocol revenue, recent data shows that its daily revenue has plummeted by 92%, and its market share has dropped to 39.9%, surpassing its competitor LetsBonk. This round of ICO with a valuation of 4 billion US dollars has serious problems: the governance structure is opaque, the team’s release terms are unclear, and the valuation is overdrawn excessively during the altcoin downturn cycle. He believes that the team has obtained huge wealth through handling fees, and the team has neither the willingness nor the ability to 'pull the market' or 'control the market'. This ICO is more like an 'exit liquidity' rather than a long-term development plan. Investors are advised to regard this as a highly speculative gamble, not a fundamental investment; wait patiently for a week after the token is launched before making a decision, and adopt a batch participation strategy to reduce risk exposure.
Regarding the valuation controversy, crypto KOL @Michael_Liu93 also raised similar questions. If Pump is still the leader in terms of volume, then a $4 billion valuation is acceptable, and there is even room for imagination for an upward valuation. But the reality is that Pump is the second, and its business volume is only 1/3 of Bonk's, but it is priced at twice the valuation of the leader, which is difficult to convince the market to continue to increase Pump's price. And Pump, as a 'benchmark project', if the public sale performs poorly, it will be an avalanche for the entire launchpad track, and the game is coming to an end.
Crypto researcher @rezxbt pointed out even more sharply that Pump.fun is staging a complete 'harvest operation'. Its token economic model looks like a money-grabbing scam from every angle. It has generated $750 million in revenue in the past year, but has hardly invested a penny in the ecosystem, and now it is trying to squeeze more funds through a public offering. The team itself holds more than 40% of the $PUMP tokens, but now it is selling the tokens to the community that once supported Pump.fun and helped it make a lot of money. This is simply cutting leeks.
However, some voices hold different views, and there are even rumors that several leading crypto funds have sold the altcoins in their hands to participate in Pump's fundraising. KOL @0xShual believes that it is unfair to single out Pump.fun from other competitors for criticism. If $PUMP fails, other projects (such as launchcoin or bonk) will not be able to stay out of it. They are making rational financial choices, which is not an original sin. Pump is a profitable company. They found the problem, proposed a solution, demonstrated delivery and growth capabilities, and made a lot of money as a result. Compared with highly valued L1s without real users, he would rather hold shares in a profitable and rapidly growing company. If the market is willing to sell other assets for $PUMP, it just shows that it is a high-quality asset. He believes that the argument that 'the MEME track is dead' is just a stage of emotion. If Pump can airdrop, launch a product matrix, and establish a return mechanism in the future, the market sentiment is likely to reverse quickly.
He further pointed out that the key to determining whether a project is truly worth holding for the long term lies in two factors: first, whether it has a strong enough narrative and market following expectations; and second, whether it has real and sustainable income and is willing to give back to token holders in a mechanistic way.
Pump.fun's coin issuance turmoil also reveals the collective dilemma currently facing the MEME market, that is, the tide of sentiment recedes, liquidity is tightened, and valuations are overdrawn. However, even though the meme narrative is nearing exhaustion and very few people are truly profiting, there are still people who are willing to line up and bet like scratching a lottery ticket. The business of issuing coins has not stopped, and new platforms are still being launched continuously.
(The above content is excerpted and reprinted with authorization from partner PANews, original link )
"Pump.fun's sky-high valuation coin issuance is criticized, and the founder's old comments are dug up to slap his face. Is the public sale worth participating in?" This article was first published on (Blockguest).
