What is pump.fun, how does crypto scammers use them
- Girikrishna GP
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Within the rapidly growing world of cryptomems, a community named pump.fun on the Solana network has been one of the most prominent projects. While it has been hailed as a great way to experiment with the internet, it has been criticized as a breeding ground for scams.
So, what exactly is pump.fun, and why has it attracted crypto scammers in droves?
What is pump.fun?
Pump.fun is a Solana token launch service, enabling the creation of a memecoin within minutes. Users require no programming skills, contract understanding, or investment.
You only need to:
A token name
A ticker
An image
Once this token has been launched, it becomes automatically tradable based on a bonding curve formula, where prices rise as more people invest. There is no traditional liquidity pool at this point. Some users buy at a lower price, while others pay a higher price as demand increases.
If the token achieves a certain market cap, then it is eligible to “graduate” and trade on decentralized exchanges. In short, the motive for pump.fun is to ease the process of creating tokens and then allow memes to compete.
Why pump.fun gained Such Popularity So Quickly
Pump.fun became popular due to three main factors:
Extreme Simplicity - A token can be launched by anyone within five minutes.
Low cost - Tokens are very cheap to make compared to traditional launches.
Rapid hype cycles - Tokens can go viral in a matter of minutes on X, Telegram, or Discord.
For memecoin investors looking for quick turnarounds, pump.fun is like an endless casino filled with 'early opportunities.
How Crypto Scammers Use pump.fun
Those same factors that make pump.fun so accessible make it so easily abused.
1. Mass Token Creation
They may produce dozens of tokens per day, and these would include:
Trendy meme names
Popular buzzwords
Celebrity references
Emotional Hooks
Because there's no identity verification or reputation system in place, scammers are faced with minimal repercussions for their actions.
2. Artificial Hype and FOMO
Even after a token becomes live, scammers:
Promoting it heavily on social networks
Utilize burner phones and/or bot networks
Posting fake “profit screenshots.”
Claim insider knowledge or ‘community backing’
This instills a false sense of urgency. Retail traders scramble to get involved before the next big pump.
3. Early Insider Advantage
It seems that scammers usually make purchases on a large scale when the project is launched. This is the point when the price is lowest. Also, with the entry of more and more investors into the market, the bonding curve increases the price. This gives the impression that the project
The fact is that the early holders control most of the supply.
4. The Dump
After an accumulation of liquidity and attention, scammers:
Sell their holdings quickly
Crash the price
Abandon the token
Move on to the next launch
As pump.fun tokens do not typically have long-term liquidity or development strategies, this means that prices are not likely to rebound. Those who join later end up with worthless tokens.
What makes pump.fun Special for Scammers
There are a few structural characteristics that make up the environment of pump.fun conducive to a scam:
No KYC or identity checks
Extremely short lifecycle of tokens
Retail-oriented user base
Speculative, meme-based culture
Low accountability
Scams do not have to take weeks and months. In pump.fun, the scam can even be finished within an hour.
Is pump.fun itself a Scam?
No. pump.fun is not a scam in itself. It’s a permissionless system, as in how smart contracts or other decentralized exchanges function. Even so, it's the users who are accountable in a permissionless system. There's no single entity that filters projects, freezes accounts, or provides refunds in a permissionless system
Under these circumstances, education is more important than trust.
Common Indicators of pump.fun Scams
In your interactions with the tokens on pump.fun, be careful of:
No definite purpose other than “numbers go up.”
Anonymous creators who have no history
Sudden influencer hype
Extremely concentrated token ownership
Promises of guaranteed pumps
“Buy fast or miss out” as the only story being told is a red flag.
The Bigger Picture: What pump.fun Says About Crypto Today
Pump.fun highlights an underlying reality of crypto:
Tools evolve faster than user education
Speculations frequently exceed fundamentals.
Retail traders still remain more vulnerable.
Projects such as pump.fun to illustrate both the creative liberty of Web3 and its limitations.
Final Takeaway
It has become easier to create a meme coin using pump.fun, but simultaneously, it has become easier to scam. The launch of this platform did not bring about crypto scammers but made scamming cheaper and faster.
Users take away one clear message:
If you don’t know how the game is played, you are most likely to exit liquidity.
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