Memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has cashed out more than $436 million in stablecoins since Octoberโs record crypto market crash throttled trading activity and slashed the platformโs monthly revenue.
Since Oct. 15, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad transferred $436 million in USDC (USDC) stablecoins to cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, signaling the platformโs operators were cashing out, according to blockchain data platform Lookonchain.
Pump.fun began transferring millions in stablecoins to the exchange a week after the record $19 billion October crypto market crash had cut speculative appetite among memecoin investors.
Pump.funโs monthly revenue fell below $40 million for the first time since July, dropping to $27.3 million in November, down 53% from Septemberโs $58.9 million, according to data from DefiLlama.
Cointelegraph contacted Pump.fun for comment on the reason behind the selling and whether the platform plans future token liquidations. A spokesperson for Pump.fun said the โrelevant teamโ is working on a comment and will respond โwhen they have the time.โ
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Is Pump.funโs revenue still pressured by the dynamics of the $19 billion market crash?
Pumpโs large-scale transfers triggered criticism among crypto investors, who saw it as a potential precursor for more selling pressure from the platform.
Memecoin trading activity had been trending down before the October market crash, which โacceleratedโ the slowdown, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
โRetail got burned repeatedly over the past few months, so the drop-off weโre seeing now is a continuation of that,โ the analyst told Cointelegraph, adding:
โThis also isnโt the first time weโve seen reports of large sell-offs from Pump.fun, so it wouldnโt be surprising if they continued selling from their holdings.โ
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The Pump.fun-tagged cryptocurrency wallet still holds about $855 million worth of stablecoins and $211 million worth of Solana (SOL) tokens, according to blockchain data platform Arkham.ย
The $436 million transfer was likely a withdrawal rather than an immediate sell-off, according to onchain analyst EmberCN, who wrote that the funds came from institutional private placements of the $PUMP token in June at a price of $0.004.
โPump.fun moving like a full-time liquidation machine while everyone else is out here โbuying dipsโ that never stop dipping,โ crypto investor SK wrote in an X post.
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