A platform for launching and trading memecoins on the Solana blockchain called Pump.fun has found itself at the center of a legal scandal and now faces closure. On February 5, the American law firms Burwick Law and Wolf Popper LLP sent Pump.fun has received an official notice demanding the immediate removal of more than 200 memecoins, including Dogshit2 (DOGSHIT2), which illegally use names and logos (violation of intellectual property rights).
The lawyers accused Pump.fun of facilitating the issuance of tokens imitating brands and companies, and believe that this not only violates copyright but also misleads investors. The plaintiffsclaimthat Pump.fun earned almost $500 million in commissions using a pump-and-dump scheme: it aggressively promoted memecoins, and after their value increased, the price dropped sharply.
However, the DOGSHIT2 memecoin mentioned in the lawsuit grew several times after the publication of the legal charges. Some members of the crypto community even suggested that Burwick Law could have launched this token itself to use it as evidence in court.
The aforementioned lawsuit was preceded by two class actions. The first one was filed by Burwick Law and Wolf Popper LLP on January 16. The platform was accused of selling memecoins Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) as unregistered securities.
The second lawsuit, dated January 30, named the operator of Pump.fun, Baton Corporation Ltd. as a defendant. In this case, the plaintiff Diego Aguilar reported losses after purchasing such tokens as Fwog and Griffain, whose prices fell sharply.
Burwick Law also represented investors in a lawsuit against the creators of Hawk Tuah memcoin ($HAWK). The Internet celebrity herself, Hayley Welch, initially denied any allegations of involvement in the pump-and-dump scheme. And later (on December 20 last year) saidwho is working with Burwick Law on the case. She has not made any publications since then.
So far, Pump.fun has not made any official statement on the situation. But users are waiting for further clarification and hope for a possible resolution of the conflict without closing the service. However, the uncertainty of the platform’s fate was expected to lead to capital outflows: the market capitalization of the Pump.fun Ecosystem as of February 6 was $4.2 billion (-15.1% in 24 hours).