Pump.fun’s $1 Billion ICO Has Caused Controversy. Can It Succeed? - Ep. 847

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On Tuesday, a pseudonymous X account claimed that Pump.fun, Solana’s breakout memecoin launchpad, would raise $1 billion via an ICO at a $4 billion valuation. The potential deal? Multiple CEX listings, a 10% community airdrop, and maybe even a launch by the end of the month. The community reaction? Not great. In this episode, Syncracy Capital’s Ryan Watkins joins to break down the backlash, whether the raise makes sense, and what this kind of fundraising says about the current state of crypto. He discusses: Whether Pump needs $1 billion and what they’d even do with it Why some people are furious, even as Pump prints revenue If this is bullish or bearish for Solana Why an airdrop was not pursued Whether the $4 billion valuation makes sense Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Ledn FalconX Human Rights Foundation Ryan Watkins, Co-founder of Syncracy Capital Unchained: Pump.fun Mulls $1B Token Sale Nextfckingthing’s tweet breaking the news Ansem’s tweet on “pump fun raising $1B at $4B after Trumpcoin launch is like the second plane hitting the towers” Ansem’s poll Ryan’s tweet on “Pump anger” Solojay tweet on Pump’s top 25 wallets Mosi’s tweet on why “Pump's ICO seems like an asymmetric bet (skewed to the downside)” Timestamps: 👋 0:00 Intro 🤔 4:03 Why skepticism around Pump.fun’s $1B raise is valid 💰 7:06 What Pump would even do with $1 billion 📈 21:17 Whether a $4B valuation actually holds up 🔥 24:08 Will this ICO hurt SOL? 🎁 27:05 Why Pump chose not to do a big airdrop 📱 28:56 Whether Pump.fun can hold its ground as SocialFi competition heats up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	About 40 to 50% of all volume on pump is routed through third-party interfaces or robots.
0:10.0	So what that means is that pump, the front end, is no longer the point of discovery for the pump ecosystem of assets. And the risk here is that the more
0:26.5	this trend continues, potentially the less control pump has over its own destiny. Because if everyone
0:32.1	starts trading on pump through dirt party interfaces, and let's say one of the interfaces gets very large,
0:36.9	well, what's stopping that interface from launching their own launch pad and just directing other users there?
0:47.6	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Unchained, your no hype resource for all things crypto. I'm your host,
0:52.3	Laura Shin. Do you want to hear your comments
0:54.6	on an episode of Unchained? Every episode we feature a few. Alex L. Witt had this to say on X
1:00.1	in response to my recent interview with Bitwise's Jeff Park. Without government spending and
1:05.1	printing, US would be in a recurring recession, e.g. multiple quarters negative GDP growth. S&P 500 is just an inflation
1:12.5	hedge for all the money printing in the absence of actual growth. If you have thoughts on a recent
1:17.0	episode or on the podcast overall, leave a comment on Apple Podcasts or in our video on YouTube,
1:22.2	Farcaster, or X. This is the June 6th, 2025 episode of Unchained.
1:33.9	Leden is a leading platform for Bitcoin-backed loans, offering a secure and transparent way to unlock liquidity without selling your Bitcoin.
1:37.4	Issuing loans since 2018 and earning over 1,000 trust-pilot reviews.
1:42.8	Learn more at leaden.io. In many countries, governments freeze
1:47.8	accounts, surveil transactions, and seize assets, not just from activists, but from everyday
1:53.9	people. That's why the Human Rights Foundation created the Financial Freedom Report. Sign up to
1:59.6	receive it weekly at financial freedom report.org.
2:03.4	Imagine an AI that speaks crypto and does the work of a team of analysts. Introducing Focal by Falcon X,
2:11.1	bringing in clarity to a world of noise. Visit askfocal.com.
2:16.6	Today's guest is Ryan Watkins, co-founder of Syncracy Capital.
	...

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