Pump.fun to Sell $1B in Tokens as Revenue Dries Up
Solana’s most polarizing launchpad is hosting a public token sale, inciting accusations of overwhelming greed from network users.
- Published: Jun 4, 2025 at 13:58
After months of dangling the carrot, pump.fun is finally approaching the business end of its eagerly awaited token launch.
Like anything the controversial launchpad does, the announcement of pump.fun’s token sale was met with harsh criticism. Having already generated over $678M in revenue and ultimately withdrawn it from the ecosystem, detractors argue that pump.fun’s proposed token sale is extractive.
Is pump.fun’s proposed $1B token sale simply asking too much from a community that has already supplied the launchpad with $678M, and can the $PUMP airdrop help the unicorn startup regain favor?
Pump.fun to Host Token Sale at $4B FDV
On June 3rd, Blockworks reported that several sources had indicated that the infamous memecoin launchpad, pump.fun, intends to conduct a $1B token sale at an FDV of $4B. According to ICO Drops, this would make pump.fun’s token sale the 4th largest in crypto history.
While the sources are currently unverified and pump.fun has yet to confirm the sale, social media commentators are speculating that the token could be launching within the next two weeks.
Reinforcing the theory, it would appear that centralized exchanges are also making way for pump.fun’s market debut. On May 30th, ByBit revealed that it would be changing the ticker of one of its listed assets from $PUMP to $PUMPBTC. Though inconclusive, this change could suggest ByBit is prepared to list a new asset using the $PUMP ticker.
This is not the first time that rumors of a pump.fun token sale have spread through social media. However, while pump.fun co-founder alon was quick to disprove launch speculation back in February, this week’s rumors are yet to be officially denied.
pump.fun’s gargantuan $1B raise has triggered speculation that the platform could be planning to launch its own Layer-1 blockchain.
However, even such lofty goals hardly justify a raise of this size. Historically, the largest Layer-1 raises on record belong to TON, NEAR, and Avalanche, which raised $658M, $544M, and $535M, respectively. Comparatively, Solana raised $359.7M.
SolanaFloor engaged pump.fun for further clarity on the token sale. At press time, representatives from the application declined to comment.
How Much Revenue is Too Much?
While the trenches have eagerly awaited the launch of pump.fun‘s native token, the launchpad’s proposed token sale has left a bitter taste in the mouths of network participants. Solana users have slandered the sale, decrying pump.fun’s attempt to raise an additional $1B after generating over 3.3M $SOL in revenue since launching in January 2024.
pump.fun’s timing has been scrutinized. With growing competition from rival launchpads and general memecoin fatigue permeating throughout the network, the viral app’s dominance and revenue have diminished from earlier peaks. Social media commentators speculate that the token sale is a last-ditch attempt to extort as much money from the ecosystem as possible.
Courtesy of its astronomical revenues, pump.fun has established itself as one of the most valuable crypto applications ever created. Despite the criticisms levied against the application, several thought-leaders have come out to refute the use of the term ‘extraction’ when discussing pump.fun’s financial activities.
While a business certainly shouldn’t be punished for generating revenue, much of the frustration towards pump.fun comes from its use of the funds. Of pump.fun’s estimated $700M in revenue, only $150M remains within the Solana ecosystem.
Detractors argue that the company should allocate more resources to reinvesting in the ecosystem that provided the fertile ground for their success.
What to Expect from the Pump.fun Airdrop
Back in October 2024, pump.fun representative sapijiju teased the platform’s TGE would likely be one of the most lucrative airdrop events in the space. However, eight months after this claim, pump.fun users are still none the wiser about what kind of allocation they can expect.
Unverified rumors from leaked tokenomic breakdowns suggest that 10% of the token’s total supply will be airdropped to users. Assuming this is accurate information, Solana’s trench dwellers can expect a liquidity injection of $400M.
While still a tremendous inflow of capital to the ecosystem, the figure falls short of Jupiter’s TGE, which rewarded users with 1B $JUP tokens, valued at ~$650M, at launch.
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