Pump.fun, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad that has generated roughly $1.3 billion in cumulative revenue, reportedly cut more than 40 employees across two rounds of layoffs. The timing, according to an investigative report from Sandmark, was not coincidental: the terminations allegedly landed right before those employees’ $PUMP token grants were set to vest.
What happened and when
According to the Sandmark report, Pump.fun, which operates under Baton Corporation Ltd, conducted the first wave of layoffs in early April 2026. A second round followed in mid-July 2026.
The $PUMP token grants in question were originally agreed upon in June 2025. The first tranche was set to vest around June 2026, meaning employees who were let go in April were cut just weeks before they would have been eligible.
At least one former employee claims their now-forfeited allocation was valued in the seven figures.
Pump.fun has not publicly commented on the allegations.
A billion-dollar machine with a governance problem
The platform generates approximately $1 million in daily profit. Its cumulative revenue sits at around $1.3 billion, making it one of the most financially successful projects in the entire Solana ecosystem.
This also isn’t Pump.fun’s first brush with internal trouble. In 2024, the company dealt with a $2 million embezzlement incident. More recently, the platform was hit with a regulatory fine in the UK for missed accounting filings.
The $PUMP token isn’t exactly thriving either
The $PUMP token is currently trading at around $0.002, which represents a 77% decline from its peak in September 2025. For context, that means the token grants that employees were allegedly denied have already lost significant value from their highs, but were still substantial enough for at least one person to claim a seven-figure loss.
$PUMP actually posted minor gains on the day the layoff news broke.
What this means for investors and the broader market
Token-based compensation is supposed to align employee and company incentives. It’s the crypto equivalent of stock options, the thing that makes early employees willing to grind for below-market salaries. When companies allegedly manipulate vesting schedules through layoff timing, it undermines the entire compensation model that much of the industry relies on.
Regulatory bodies are also likely watching. The UK has already fined Pump.fun for compliance failures. Allegations of strategically timed layoffs to avoid compensation obligations could attract scrutiny from labor regulators in multiple jurisdictions, particularly as governments worldwide sharpen their focus on how crypto companies treat workers and handle token-based pay.