Author: Nancy, PANews
The moment Pump.fun officially announced the issuance of its token, the tension on the chain tightened again. Some people criticized its valuation as being inflated after being overtaken by its competitor LetsBONK, while others worried that it would quietly leave the market after squeezing out the last wave of liquidity.
Public offering started with a valuation of USD 4 billion, contract trading was opened before spot trading
On the evening of July 10, Pump.fun, which had been rumored to be issuing coins many times, finally broke its silence and officially announced that it would launch the initial coin offering (IC0) of its native token PUMP on July 12, and promised to carry out a large-scale airdrop soon.
According to official disclosures, the total supply of PUMP tokens is 1 trillion, of which 33% is used for ICO sales, 24% is reserved for community and ecosystem initiatives, 20% is allocated to the team, 13% is given to existing investors, and the rest is allocated to ecosystem funds and foundations.
This IC0 will issue 150 billion PUMP tokens at a unit price of 0.004 USDT, accounting for 15% of the total supply. The total financing is expected to reach US$600 million, corresponding to an overall project valuation of approximately US$4 billion.
Unlike other popular projects that often choose to log in on top platforms such as Binance, this time Pump.fun's public offering will be conducted through trading platforms such as Bitget, Bybit, Kraken, Gate.io, and participants can use assets such as bbSOL, SOL or USDT to purchase. And surprisingly, Binance Futures announced the launch of PUMP/USDT perpetual contract pre-sale transactions before the PUMP public offering. This public sale will last until the tokens are sold out or end at 14:00 UTC on July 15. It should be noted that users in the United States and the United Kingdom will not be able to participate in this ICO due to compliance issues.
According to the PUMP release schedule, the tokens allocated to the team and existing investors will be gradually unlocked from July 2026; the tokens allocated to the community and ecosystem plan will be gradually unlocked from the first day of token issuance and will be fully allocated in July 2026; the other tokens allocated to IC0, liquidity + exchange, and foundation will be fully unlocked on the first day of token issuance. In addition, the official said that the PUMP token will open the transfer function within 48 to 72 hours after the sale ends, and free trading will not be open in the initial stage.
Subsequently, Alon, the founder of Pump.fun, simultaneously released a tweet to disclose the key development strategies of the project in the future: 1. Improve the quality, sustainability and diversity of the tokens that have been launched: In the future, the creator revenue sharing mechanism will be extended to the CTO project, and the fee structure will also be further adjusted. 2. Double investment in the social field: Further investment and focus on the live broadcast function of Pump.fun. 3. Continue to invest in creating user experience. 4. Expand the team size: At present, the basic framework of the team has been initially built, with more than 70 core members covering engineering, data, security, trust and compliance, legal affairs, operations and growth. The team will continue to actively expand through recruitment and strategic acquisitions, and the first acquisition will be officially announced soon.
Pump coin issuance was criticized one-sidedly, and the founder’s previous remarks were “slapped in the face”
At present, the liquidity and sentiment of the MEME market are no longer what they used to be. As the long-term leader of the MEME track, Pump.fun is not only facing a sharp decline in daily revenue and daily activity, but also has been overtaken by its competitor LetsBonk in market share (Related reading: Letsbonk counterattacks to become the top MEME launch platform, and many key indicators surpass Pump.fun for the first time ). However, Pump.fun launched a public offering with a valuation of up to US$4 billion, which triggered one-sided doubts and criticisms in the community, and was even accused of draining the already limited market liquidity, further exacerbating market weakness.
Even more embarrassing is that the past remarks of Alon, the founder of Pump.fun, were also dug up by the community, which can be called a "face-slapping scene". Alon said in March 2024 that pre-sales must be marketed to justify valuations, which brings huge performance pressure. The only benefit of pre-sales is that you can put the raised funds into your pocket. Conclusion: Every pre-sale is a scam. Not only that, he also bluntly stated that exchange listings are dead, and the lack of transparency in listings will lead to violations and poor currency selection.
In the view of Jocy , partner of IOSG Ventures, although Pump.fun once created a glorious $700 million protocol revenue, recent data shows that its daily revenue has plummeted by 92%, and its market share has dropped to 39.9%, surpassed by its competitor LetsBonk. This round of ICO with a valuation of $4 billion has serious problems: the governance structure is not transparent, the team release terms are not clear, and the valuation is overdrawn in the downward cycle of altcoins. He believes that the team has obtained huge wealth through handling fees, and the team has neither the willingness nor the ability to "pull the market" or "control the market". This ICO is more like "exit liquidity" rather than a long-term development plan. Investors are advised to regard this as a highly speculative gamble, not a fundamental investment; wait patiently for a week after the token is launched before making a decision, and adopt a batch participation strategy to reduce risk exposure.
Regarding the valuation controversy, crypto KOL @Michael_Liu93 also raised similar doubts. If Pump is still the leader in terms of size, then the $4 billion valuation is acceptable, and there is even room for valuation to rise. But the reality is that Pump is the second largest, with a business size of only 1/3 of Bonk, but it has a valuation that is twice as expensive as the leader, which makes it difficult to convince the market to continue to raise the price of Pump. As a "benchmark project", if Pump performs poorly in the public sale, it will be an avalanche for the entire launchpad track, and the game is over.
Crypto researcher @rezxbt pointed out that Pump.fun is staging a thorough "harvest operation". Its token economic model looks like a money-making scam from every angle. While generating $750 million in revenue in the past year, it has invested almost nothing in the ecosystem, and is now trying to squeeze more money through public offerings. The team holds more than 40% of the $PUMP tokens, but is now selling them to the community that once supported Pump.fun and helped it make a lot of money. This is simply cutting leeks.
However, some voices hold different views, 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 criticize Pump.fun separately from other competitors. If $PUMP fails, other projects (such as launchcoin or bonk) will not be able to escape unscathed. They made rational choices financially, and this is not an original sin. Pump is a profitable company. They found problems, proposed solutions, demonstrated delivery and growth capabilities, and made a lot of money. Compared with the high-valued L1 without real users, he would rather hold shares in a profitable and strong-growing company. If the market is willing to sell other assets for $PUMP, it just shows that it is a high-quality asset. He believes that the argument that "MEME track is dead" is just a staged emotion. If Pump can airdrop, launch a product matrix and establish a profit feedback mechanism in the future, the market trend is likely to reverse quickly.
He further pointed out that the key to determining whether a project is truly worth holding for the long term lies in two factors: one is whether it has a strong enough narrative and market follow-up expectations; the other is whether it has real and sustainable income and is willing to give back to token holders in a systematic way.
The coin issuance controversy of Pump.fun actually reveals the collective dilemma currently faced by the MEME market, namely, the ebb tide of sentiment, liquidity tightening, and over-valuation. However, although the meme narrative is almost exhausted and there are only a few real winners, there are still people willing to line up to bet like scratching lottery tickets. The coin issuance business has not stopped, and new platforms are still coming online continuously.
