IOSG Founding Partner: Pump.fun Public Offering Resembles Team Seeking Liquidity Exit, Project and Market Fundamentals Cannot Support Inflated Valuation

According to ChainCatcher, citing information from social media, IOSG founding partner Jocy stated that in their view, the current Pump.fun public offering resembles using participants as exit liquidity and is a highly speculative gamble.

Jocy noted that since its launch in early 2024, Pump.fun has experienced explosive growth, with cumulative protocol revenue reaching approximately $700 million, making it one of the most profitable projects in the cryptocurrency sector. However, Pump.fun’s daily revenue has dropped 92% from its peak, now standing at only about $500,000. The market capitalization of its graduated projects has plummeted from tens of millions of dollars to a mere $50,000–$100,000. Its market share has also been overtaken by competitor LetsBonk (with a 51% share), while Pump.fun has fallen to 39.9%.

From the perspective of tokenomics and risk exposure, this round of ICO targets retail investors (15%) and institutions (18%), with a total of 33% of tokens sold, corresponding to a fundraising amount as high as $1.32 billion. Including previous fee income, the Pump.fun team will hold nearly $2 billion in cash. This presents a highly unfavorable risk exposure for public investors:

· Opaque governance structure: decision-making process is a mystery

· Unclear team/investor vesting terms

· Excessive high-valuation fundraising overdraws future growth potential

Jocy stated that they believe the Pump.fun team has neither the willingness nor the ability to “pump” or “control” the market. Having already amassed enormous wealth through fees, this ICO appears to be the final “value realization” (exit liquidity). In the current market environment, where buying interest is severely lacking, such a high valuation is simply unsustainable. This is fundamentally different from the valuation support logic of Hyperliquid. Jocy believes this public fundraising is a highly speculative gamble, not a fundamental investment. The capital invested should be considered risk capital that can be completely lost. The market’s growth potential for meme launch platforms and altcoins is already showing signs of fatigue. Investors are advised to wait until the token has traded on the open market for a week before making any decisions, in order to observe the real market response.