Pump.fun reportedly raising $1 billion via token sale

Pump.fun, the blockbuster meme coin platform built on the Solana blockchain, is reportedly planning a $1 billion raise via a token sale, giving it a $4 billion valuation. This would represent one of the largest crypto raises this year, according to Bloomberg.

Details are scarce, though one X user predicted Pump.fun may launch a $PUMP token in the next two weeks.

The platform launched in 2024 with massive success. It allows users to create and sell solana tokens very easily, and a few meme coins have become quite popular. Top coins in the $3.7 billion ecosystem include pnut and Moo Deng, which are both down more than 5% in the past 24 hours.

Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau, said Pump.fun has been a resounding success in the solana ecosystem, “whether you like it or not,” as it has become hugely profitable.

“But reportedly, revenues have now somewhat dried up, and if this is true it’s understandable that Pump.fun wants to boost profits in some other way,” Puckrin said. “Again, though, this may not be the most sustainable solution for the long term, but more of a stopgap.”

Revenue for the meme coin machine decreased to $47.4 million in May, a steep drop from its peak of $134.17 million in January, DefiLlama data shows, reflecting the waning of the meme coin mania that raged on earlier this year. The meme coin market cap is just over $61 billion today, down from $111.7 billion on Inauguration Day.

“While it has created a huge unlock in terms of the ability to launch tokens quickly and at low cost, the platform also led to a lot of people losing a lot of money on worthless meme coins, encouraging gambling-like behavior instead of sustainable investing,” Hadley Stern, chief commercial officer of Marinade, said.

A recent Solidus Labs report also found that “approximately 98.7% of tokens on Pump.fun... exhibited characteristics of pump-and-dump schemes or rug pulls.” It also called the solana ecosystem “ground zero for fraudulent activity.”