Sold out in just 12 minutes, raising hundreds of millions — but who was really buying? On July 12, meme coin platform Pump.fun pulled off a massive win. Its ICO attracted over 10,000 wallets, securing more than $500 million on-chain and another $100 million through centralized exchange (CEX) partners. A massive success at first glance — but a closer look reveals that things may not have been as organic as they seemed.

🎭 Hundreds of Wallets, One Mastermind?

One wallet — address 88888FAoqY... — appeared to orchestrate a highly coordinated operation. It distributed exactly $400 in USDC and a small amount of SOL for gas fees to 500 separate wallets.

Each of these wallets then took part in the ICO, together buying around $200,000 worth of PUMP tokens — creating the illusion of widespread demand and interest.

🔍 A Precisely Orchestrated Operation

On-chain data reveals a strategic and methodical approach:

🔹 withdrawal of stablecoins from Bybit and Binance,

🔹 distribution into 500 different wallets,

🔹 transfer of SOL for transaction fees,

🔹 each wallet contributing exactly $400 to the ICO.

Even more impressive — and suspicious — is that this maneuver bypassed KYC requirements, which were mandatory for ICO participation.

🧠 Gaming the Metrics: Fake Holders, Real Money

Researchers noted that these wallets were all categorized as “unknown addresses” in funding graphs, distorting the appearance of fair distribution.

The wallet’s history reveals that similar tactics had previously been used to inflate the number of holders in low-float meme coins like ARTIC and WUKONG, using micro-transactions worth mere fractions of a cent.

📌 This method also cleverly circumvents Sybil detection heuristics, which often flag newly created wallets as suspicious.




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