The Solana-based memecoin platform Pump.fun has fallen victim to a security breach, with its official X account hijacked to promote a fraudulent governance token called $PUMP.
The compromised X account of Pump.fun posted a fraudulent announcement claiming that $PUMP was the official governance token of the platform. The message falsely promised rewards for early adopters and “OG degens,” enticing users to engage with the scam.
The attackers even escalated their tactics, later pushing another fraudulent token, GPT-4.5, and claiming they would delete the Pump.fun X account if the token reached a $100 million market cap.
Pump.fun quickly responded to the breach, posting on its Telegram channel to warn users against interacting with the fraudulent messages. The platform assured its community that an investigation was underway to regain control of its social media account.
However, the attack follows a pattern of recent high-profile crypto social media hacks, including incidents targeting Jupiter DAO and DogWifCoin, both of which had their X accounts compromised in the past few months.
Pump.fun and Its Role in the Memecoin Ecosystem
Since its launch in early 2024, the platform has emerged as a go-to solution for launching Solana-based memecoins. The protocol allows users to mint and trade tokens instantly, propelling a wave of speculative trading in the memecoin sector.
However, its low barrier to entry has also made it a breeding ground for pump-and-dump schemes, drawing criticism from segments of the crypto community. The controversy doesn’t end there, Pumpfun was recently served with a $500 million class-action lawsuit over unregistered securities.
Recently, Pump.fun has been exploring more sophisticated features, including the rumored development of an in-house Automated Market Maker to replace Raydium for its liquidity pools. If implemented, this move could significantly impact Raydium’s trading volume, as many of the newly tokens currently migrate there for liquidity. The speculation alone has already contributed to a drop in Raydium’s (RAY) token price.
