$KIMCHI Hits $44M ATH After Kimchi Joins Pump.fun App, but Can It Avoid the Fate of Past Creator Coins?
The trader, reportedly known for making $40M on $TRUMP, has joined Pump.fun, as the $KIMCHI token quickly surged and has revealed an investment in the platform as critics question the risks of personality-driven speculation.
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Solana memcoin launchpad Pump.fun has brought crypto trader Kimchi onto its app, betting on his internet fame to attract a wider audience to its social trading ecosystem. The Pump.fun ecosystem account announced the move in an X post declaring, “BREAKING: KIMCHI JOINS THE PUMPFUN APP.”
The platform also unveiled a billboard featuring the message “Be the next Kimchi,” positioning the trader as a figure others could emulate.
Pump.fun co-founder Alon welcomed Kimchi, calling him the first person to successfully bridge crypto and pop culture and become a celebrity through trading.
Alon said Kimchi would help shape the platform’s creative direction as Pump.fun seeks to expand beyond Crypto Twitter and attract mainstream users. He outlined a vision for an ecosystem 10 times larger than the previous cycle, eventually growing to 100 times its current scale.
$KIMCHI Surges to $44M Market Cap Within an Hour
The announcement coincided with a sharp rally in the $KIMCHI token. The token reached a market cap of approximately $44 million within an hour of Kimchi joining the app. However, DexScreener data shows the token has only about $570,000 in liquidity across all pairs.
Kimchi reportedly made $40 million trading the $TRUMP token and holds around 75% of the $KIMCHI supply. His portfolio valuation also reached approximately $42.5 million within an hour of joining Pump.fun, largely due to the surge of the $KIMCHI token.
The rally has since cooled. At press time, $KIMCHI trades around a $31 million market cap, down from its $44 million peak.
Pump.fun also announced that Kimchi reached 25,000 followers on the app within 12 hours of joining, highlighting the immediate attention his arrival drew.
Kimchi Reveals Pump.fun Investment in First Vlog
Kimchi marked the announcement with a 16-minute vlog on his YouTube channel, featuring mostly lifestyle content.
During the video, he revealed that he had invested in Pump.fun. When someone asked him about a pill-shaped plushie, akin to the Pump.fun logo, Kimchi replied, “The pill thing? Yeah. It's basically like the company that I'm like investing in. That like started like what I do", further going on to specifically mention Pump.fun.
The disclosure adds another dimension to his new role on the platform, with social media users claiming that Kimchi reportedly got paid $6.5 million to be onboarded onto the Pump.fun app. However, the available details do not establish the size of his investment or the terms of his arrangement with Pump.fun.
Traders Compare $KIMCHI to Ansem’s $ANSEM Token
Some traders have compared $KIMCHI with $ANSEM, a token associated with crypto personality Ansem. About 65% of the token’s supply was sent to Ansem’s wallet.
The comparison highlights a recurring concern in personality-driven token launches: how much supply prominent figures control, what incentives they have to promote a token, and whether buyers understand those incentives before investing.
Community reactions to Kimchi’s arrival have been divided. Supporters of Pump.fun’s strategy may see his following as a route to bringing new users into crypto. Critics argue that celebrity-driven launches can encourage inexperienced traders to mistake online attention for a reliable path to profits.
Some commenters also questioned whether Kimchi’s popularity could deliver meaningful mainstream adoption, pointing to previous celebrity token launches that generated attention without demonstrating lasting demand.
Can Kimchi Onboard “Normies”?
Pump.fun is positioning Kimchi as part of its effort to turn trading personalities into mainstream internet figures. His rapid follower growth and $KIMCHI’s initial surge suggest that the announcement generated immediate interest.
However, the token’s retreat from $44 million, alongside the concentration of roughly 75% of its supply in Kimchi’s hands, underscores the risks that buyers face in highly concentrated, personality-driven markets.
Past experiences with creator coins, livestream tokens, and celebrity-backed launches offer reason for caution. Most of these tokens surge after their initial launch, then lose momentum and trend toward zero. $ANSEM stands out as a notable exception, with the token having sustained some of its initial traction. It remains to be seen whether Kimchi can produce a different outcome. However, the historical pattern suggests that sustaining demand beyond the initial hype will be difficult. Whether the partnership brings lasting users to Pump.fun will depend on more than short-term attention.
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