Crypto Oops: Investor Torches 10,000,000 PUMP Tokens in Post-ICO Blunder

Talk about a bad trade. One crypto holder just turned a potential fortune into digital ashes—accidentally burning 10 million PUMP tokens after the project's hotly anticipated ICO.

When 'HODL' goes wrong

The eye-watering loss—worth approximately $1.2 million at current prices—occurred when the user mistakenly sent the tokens to an irretrievable burn address. Blockchain explorers confirm the tokens are now permanently locked in crypto purgatory.

PUMP developers shrugged when contacted, noting the burn technically increases scarcity for remaining holders. Because nothing pumps a token's value like watching someone else's stack go up in smoke.

Just another Tuesday in DeFi wonderland, where the only thing more volatile than prices is human error.

User Burns PUMP Token Notably, these errors have occurred before in the cryptocurrency space. The Crypto Basic has reported cases where the Slerf meme coin developer accidentally burned $10 million worth of tokens intended for presale investors. Meanwhile, another such mistake saw Crypto.com send $10.5 million to a customer instead of $100. User Loses Coveted Pump.fun Tokens Notably, Pump.fun announced plans to sell a portion of its PUMP tokens to the public on July 12, offering 15% of its total supply in an ICO program. Notably, Pump.fun offered 33% in general, but the other 18% to institutional investors. Meanwhile, the public offering on the Gate.io platform sold off quickly, precisely in 12 minutes. Pump.fun realized $500 million from the 125 billion PUMP token sales (12.5% of supply), releasing the tokens to the fastest fingers. Further details from Dune Analytics show that 23,959 wallets completed KYC (know your customer) for the PUMP token ICO, but only 10,147 of them successfully acquired the token. This meant that only 42.3% of the KYC’ed wallets participated in the presale with an average buy of $44,209. A breakout of the participants identified that 5,758 wallets purchased the PUMP token with less than $1,000, while 1,737 wallets bought with more than $1,000, and 1,030 wallets with over $10,000. Interestingly, 202 wallets bought over $1 million worth of the token. Heavy Demands Despite Widespread Criticism The quick sell-off demonstrated the high demand for the Pump.fun token despite criticisms against the protocol’s negative impact on the space. Recall that the Solana-based platform launched in early 2024, offering users an easy route to creating meme coins on the platform. Meanwhile, the platform started on an impressive note and has recorded over $700 million in revenue amid growing user traction. However, Pump.fun has faced several lawsuits for allowing token creators to post offensive content on their platform in a bid to lure users to buy their meme coins. Burwick Law and Wolf Popper LLP sued Pump.fun in January on behalf of crypto investors for promoting social vices and explicit content on its website. The lawsuit also claims it defrauded investors and offered unregistered securities. In an attempt to curb the escalating menace, Pump.fun blocked UK users from accessing the platform and deactivated its live-streaming feature. Nonetheless, the recent investor haul suggests a perception that Pump.fun is still a viable platform.