Pump.fun's sky-high valuation token issuance has faced collective criticism, and the founder's old statements have been unearthed to slap his face; is public fundraising worth participating in?
The moment Pump.fun officially announced its token issuance, the already tense on-chain dynamics became even tighter. Some criticized its valuation as being inflated after being surpassed by the competing product LetsBONK, while others worried that it would quietly exit after squeezing the last wave of liquidity.
On the evening of July 10, Pump.fun, which had repeatedly had rumors of token issuance, finally broke its silence and officially announced that it would launch the initial coin offering (ICO) for its native token PUMP on July 12, promising a large-scale airdrop soon. According to official disclosure, the total supply of PUMP tokens is 1 trillion, of which 33% is allocated for ICO sales, 24% reserved for community and ecosystem plans, 20% allocated to the team, 13% to existing investors, and the remaining allocated to ecosystem funds and foundations.
This ICO will issue 150 billion PUMP tokens at a price of 0.004 USDT, accounting for 15% of the total supply, with an expected total fundraising of 600 million USD, corresponding to an overall project valuation of about 4 billion USD.
Unlike most other popular projects that often choose to launch on top platforms like Binance, this time Pump.fun's public offering will be conducted through trading platforms such as Bitget, Bybit, Kraken, and Gate.io, and participants can purchase using assets like bbSOL, SOL, or USDT. Surprisingly, Binance Futures announced the launch of PUMP/USDT perpetual contract pre-sale trading even before the PUMP public offering. This public sale will continue until the tokens are sold out or until July 15 at 14:00 UTC. It is important to note that users from the US and UK will be unable to participate in this ICO due to compliance issues.
According to the PUMP release schedule, tokens allocated to the team and existing investors will begin to unlock gradually from July 2026; the portion allocated to the community and ecosystem plan will gradually unlock from the first day of token issuance and will be fully allocated by July 2026; other portions allocated to ICO, liquidity + trading platform, and foundation will be fully unlocked on the first day of token issuance. Additionally, the official stated that the PUMP tokens will open transfer functions within 48 to 72 hours after the sale ends, and free trading will not be opened in the initial phase.
Subsequently, Pump.fun's founder Alon simultaneously tweeted to disclose the project’s key future development strategies: 1. Improve the quality, sustainability, and diversity of already launched tokens: The future creator revenue sharing mechanism will be extended to CTO projects, and the fee structure will also be adjusted further. 2. Increase investment in the social field: Further invest in and focus on the Pump.fun live streaming function. 3. Continuously invest in building user experience. 4. Expand the team size: The basic framework of the current team has been initially established, with more than 70 core members covering various fields such as engineering, data, security, trust and compliance, legal affairs, operations, and growth; they will continue to actively expand the team through recruitment and strategic acquisitions, with the first acquisition soon to be officially announced.
Currently, the liquidity and sentiment in the MEME market have changed drastically. As a long-term leader in the MEME track, Pump.fun is now facing a significant decline in daily revenue and daily activity, and has been surpassed in market share by the competitor LetsBonk (related reading: Letsbonk's comeback as the top MEME launch platform, surpassing Pump.fun in several key metrics for the first time). However, Pump.fun has initiated public fundraising with a valuation as high as 4 billion USD, causing a wave of skepticism and criticism in the community, even being accused of potentially draining the already limited market liquidity, further exacerbating market weakness.
What's more embarrassing is that the past statements of Pump.fun's founder Alon have also been dug up by the community, making it a 'face-slapping scene.' Alon stated in March 2024 that pre-sales must be marketed to prove the valuation is reasonable, bringing huge performance pressure. The only benefit of a pre-sale is that you can pocket the funds raised. Conclusion: Every pre-sale is a scam. Moreover, he bluntly stated that the listing of trading platforms is dead, and the lack of transparency in listings leads to violations and poor currency choices.
According to IOSG Ventures partner jocy, although Pump.fun once achieved a glorious 700 million USD in protocol revenue, recent data shows its daily revenue has plummeted by 92%, and its market share has dropped to 39.9%, being surpassed by the competitor LetsBonk. This round of ICO with a valuation of 4 billion USD has serious problems: the governance structure is not transparent, the team's release terms are unclear, and it has over-leveraged its valuation during the altcoin downturn. He believes that the team has already gained substantial wealth through transaction fees, and they have neither the willingness nor the capability to 'pump' or 'control the market.' This ICO feels more like an 'exit liquidity' rather than a long-term development plan. He advises investors to treat this as a highly speculative gamble, rather than a fundamental investment; to patiently wait a week after the token goes live to make a decision, and to adopt a staggered participation strategy to reduce risk exposure.
Regarding the valuation controversy, crypto KOL @Michael_Liu93 also raised similar doubts, stating that if Pump still holds the position of a leader, then a 4 billion USD valuation could be justified, and there might even be room for upward valuation. However, the reality is that Pump is a second-tier player, with a business scale only one-third that of bonk, yet it has set a valuation twice that of the leader, making it hard to convince the market to continue raising Pump's price. If Pump, as a 'benchmark project,' performs poorly in the public sale, it would be a landslide for the entire launchpad track; the game is nearing its end.
Crypto researcher @rezxbt sharply pointed out that Pump.fun is staging a complete 'harvesting operation.' Its token economic model looks like a cash-grab scheme from every angle, having generated 750 million USD in revenue over the past year while investing almost nothing back into the ecosystem, and now it attempts to squeeze more funds through public fundraising. The team holds over 40% of the $PUMP tokens, and now they are selling tokens to the very community that once supported Pump.fun and helped it earn a windfall; this is simply a case of cutting韭菜.
However, there are some voices with different opinions, and there are even rumors that several leading crypto funds have sold their altcoins to participate in Pump's fundraising. KOL @0xShual believes that it is unfair to single out Pump.fun for criticism compared to its competitors. If $PUMP fails, other projects (like launchcoin or bonk) cannot escape either. They make rational financial choices, which is not a sin. Pump is a profitable company; they identified problems, proposed solutions, demonstrated delivery and growth capabilities, and thus made a lot of money. Compared to the overvalued L1 without real users, he prefers to hold shares in a company with substantial profits and strong growth. If the market is willing to sell other assets for $PUMP, it only indicates that it is a quality asset. He believes that the claim that 'the MEME track is dead' is merely a phase of sentiment, and if Pump can future airdrops, launch a product matrix, and establish a revenue-sharing mechanism, the market trend could likely reverse quickly.
He further pointed out that the key to determining whether a project is truly worth holding long-term lies in two factors: one is whether it has a strong narrative and market-following expectations; the other is whether it has real sustainable revenue and is willing to give back to token holders in a systematic manner.
The token issuance controversy of Pump.fun actually reveals the collective dilemma currently faced by the MEME market, namely the ebbing of sentiment, tightening liquidity, and over-leveraged valuations. However, despite the meme narrative being nearly exhausted and there being very few genuine beneficiaries, some people are still willing to queue up to place bets as if they were scratching a lottery ticket. The business of issuing tokens has not stopped, and new platforms continue to go live.
