pump.fun ICO Raises $500M in 12 Minutes, Sparks Retail Boom
pump.fun ICO sold out in just 12 minutes, raising over $500 million onchain and $100 million via centralized exchanges. More than 20,000 KYC-verified wallets participated, with a median buy-in of $400–$537. US investors were excluded amid regulatory uncertainty. Onchain data later revealed a whale funded 500 coordinated wallets—each loaded with $400 USDC and 0.05 SOL—to bypass Sybil resistance and amplify token allocations. This tactic echoes past memecoin launches and could skew future airdrops and bonuses. The Saturday offering alone outperformed all NYSE Saturday fundraises since 1952, underscoring crypto’s 24/7, global retail access. Parallels to Ethereum’s 2014 ICO suggest pump.fun may herald a more inclusive, flexible fundraising era. Traders should monitor wallet coordination and regulatory shifts when assessing upcoming ICOs and token launches.
Bullish
The pump.fun ICO’s record $500 million raise in 12 minutes demonstrates robust retail demand and 24/7 market access, which is likely to drive positive sentiment around the PUMP token. Despite short-term risks from whale-driven Sybil tactics and potential regulatory scrutiny, strong participation and historical parallels to Ethereum’s early fundraising point to a broader trend of inclusive, high-velocity capital formation. Traders may see renewed buying pressure on PUMP in the near term, while long-term confidence in decentralized ICO models could support sustained growth.