Over the last two weeks, a large investor has gathered $16.38 million in PUMP tokens, coinciding with a price surge after Pump.fun revealed its purchase of the multichain trading terminal Padre. The announcement, made on October 25, led to a 10% jump in PUMP’s value, sending it to a weekly peak of $0.0043 and sparking renewed debate about the token’s future prospects, as highlighted in a
Pump.fun, a prominent
 PUMP’s recent rally came after a period of sideways trading, where it fluctuated between $0.0036 and $0.0046 since a correction in October. AltCryptoGems analyst Sjuul observed that the token had faced challenges after hitting the lower end of its range, but described the breakout as encouraging. This upward move could allow PUMP to challenge the $0.005 mark again, a significant resistance level from its Q3 rally, as noted in the TradingView report.
Nevertheless, the acquisition drew criticism from Padre’s user base, who were unhappy with the decision to discontinue utility for PADRE, the terminal’s native token. Following the news, PADRE’s price plummeted by 76% within an hour to a multi-month low of $0.009, before recovering to $0.0139. One community member labeled the decision “atrocious,” insisting that PADRE holders should have received a snapshot or airdrop to compensate for the lost utility, according to TradingView.
The whale’s $16.38 million PUMP accumulation highlights increasing interest from both institutional and retail participants, especially as Pump.fun broadens its ecosystem. Although PUMP’s near-term direction is still influenced by overall market trends, the acquisition has made it a central focus for investors looking at Solana-based memecoins and trading platforms.