According to a new report from Pine Analytics, Pump.Fun’s token deployers systematically provided funding to buy their own meme coins. This has affected the launch of over 15,000 tokens on the platform.
These sniper wallets operated primarily during US trading hours and implemented standardized, profitable strategies. Unrelated bot activities make behavior obscure, making it extremely difficult to separate these wallets, and easily adapt to new measures.
Snipers roam free with pump.fun meme coin
Pump.Fun remains one of Solana’s most popular Meme Coin Launchpads despite sustained controversy and other criticisms.
However, a new report from Pine Analytics discovered systematic market manipulation on the platform and revealed new controversies. These snipers include up to 1.75% of all fire activities in Pump.fun.
“In our analysis, this tactic is not uncommon either. Over 15,000 SOLs of realized profits have been extracted this way in the past month alone, with over 15,000 launches, including over 4,600 sniper wallets and over 10,400 deployments.
Follow a consistent pattern for Solana Meme Coin Deployers on Pump.Fun. They fund one or more sniper wallets and allow advance notice of future token launches.
These wallets buy tokens on the first block and close to liquidation. 85% 90% within 5 minutes 90% with one or two swap events.
Figure: Profits of Pump.Fun Sniper Wallet. Source: X/Pine Analytics
Pump.Fun Meme Coin developers will use this tactic to create an instant demand look for tokens. Retail investors are often buying these tokens after snipes, as they are unaware of previous selloffs, giving developers an unfair advantage. This constitutes market operations and erodes trust in the platform.
Pine Analytics had to carefully adjust the methodology to identify real snipers. Apparently, 50% of Meme Coin is released on Pump.Fun will involve sniping, but most of this is probably bots using the “spray and prayer” method.
However, by excluding snipers without a direct link to the developer wallet, the company missed out on a project covering the truck through a proxy and burner.
In other words, the Meme Coin community does not have adequate defenses against systematic abuse of Pump.Fun. There are several possible ways that platforms can repeatedly flag criminals and sketchy projects, but adaptive measures can beat them. This issue requires persistent and aggressive action.
Unfortunately, it may be difficult to establish such a policy. Meme Coin Sniping is so systematic that Pump.fun could only fight with actual commitments.
Analysts believe that building an on-chain culture that rewards transparency rather than extraction is the best long-term solution. Such a shift is truly an earthquake and the memecoin sector may not survive it.
