Blockchain platform Pump.fun pulled off one of the largest-ever crypto token sales, raising a staggering $600 million in just 12 minutes over the weekend, in yet another sign that the memecoin frenzy is far from over.
The platform’s public sale on Saturday comes amid renewed interest in speculative tokens, following Bitcoin’s recent record high.
Built on the Solana blockchain, Pump.fun announced via X (formerly Twitter) on July 9 that it had sold 150 billion of its native tokens at $0.004 each during the public offering.
This followed an earlier private sale of 180 billion tokens to select investors at the same price. According to co-founder Alon Cohen, the total sale—private and public—topped $1.32 billion.
The company noted that investors in the US and UK were excluded from participating in the sale.
Memecoins make a roaring comeback
Memecoins, often inspired by internet memes, celebrities, or pop culture, are back in the spotlight. From dog-themed tokens to joke-based coins like PEPE, retail and institutional investors alike have poured billions into the space, hoping for quick profits.
- Even U.S. President Donald Trump jumped on the trend, issuing his own memecoin ahead of his second inauguration in January.
- Pump.fun, launched in 2024 by Alon Cohen, Noah Tweedale, and Dylan Kerler, has been a major driver of this memecoin resurgence.
- The platform allows users to easily launch their own highly speculative tokens and has raked in nearly $800 million in revenue since its debut, according to a company spokesperson.
ICOs are back with a twist
Saturday’s token sale also marks a resurgence of the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) model—a fundraising method that had largely faded after peaking in early 2018 and subsequently falling out of favor due to scams, regulatory crackdowns, and investor losses.
ICOs are now seeing a revival amid looser market sentiment and a renewed appetite for high-risk, high-reward bets.
“You go from max fear to max FOMO very quickly,” said Zaheer Ebtikar, founder of crypto investment firm Split Capital, commenting on the fast-shifting sentiment in the memecoin space.
While some market watchers initially feared the Pump.fun sale might dampen interest in other memecoins, it has so far done the opposite, fueling momentum on the Solana network and reinforcing the perception that the memecoin sector remains very much alive.
According to the company, the newly issued Pump tokens are expected to begin trading between 48 and 72 hours after the sale ended.
