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Former Pump.fun employees allege the company timed layoffs to strip them of PUMP token vesting rights, according to an anonymous X account representing more than 40 ex-staff that began publishing termination emails this week.
The allegations surfaced after Pump.fun’s team unlocked 50 billion PUMP tokens, worth roughly $102 million, when the platform’s one-year insider cliff expired on July 12, 2026.
Pump.fun has not publicly responded to the allegations, making the Pump.Fun layoffs one of the most closely watched controversies surrounding the platform this year.
The allegations come as Pump.fun continues to generate substantial revenue from its token launch platform while facing legal scrutiny and questions over corporate transparency.
According to a report by BeInCrypto citing documents reviewed by Sandmark, the first wave of Pump.Fun layoffs took place in early April 2026.
Former employees allege they were dismissed approximately two months before a scheduled vesting event that would have unlocked a quarter of their allocated PUMP tokens. Grant agreements referenced in the report were reportedly signed in mid-June 2025.
The controversy intensified after an anonymous X account began publishing what it said were termination emails from former staff members. The account claims to represent more than 40 ex-employees who argue they lost access to token allocations because they were no longer employed when the vesting date arrived.
One former employee reportedly forfeited PUMP tokens now valued in the seven-figure range.
Co-founder Noah Tweedale previously explained the workforce reductions as part of a broader restructuring effort.
“The business grew too quickly” and could no longer move “fast and rough.” — Noah Tweedale, Co-founder, Pump.fun
According to the report, affected employees received severance packages equivalent to one week’s salary for every month worked.
Pump.fun has not publicly commented on the allegations or confirmed the reported number of affected employees.
Attention surrounding the Pump.Fun layoffs intensified after the project’s one-year insider cliff expired on July 12, triggering one of the largest token unlocks in the platform’s history.
Data from Tokenomist showed that 82.5 billion PUMP tokens were released, including 50 billion tokens allocated to the team and 32.5 billion tokens distributed to existing investors.
At prices recorded on July 31, the team’s allocation alone was valued at approximately $102 million.
The timing has fueled criticism from former employees, who argue that they missed out on significant compensation while insiders benefited from the unlock.
Earlier in April, Pump.fun also burned approximately $370 million worth of repurchased PUMP tokens, eliminating around 36% of the circulating supply.
Defending the move at the time, co-founder Alon Cohen said:
“Every dollar not burned is a dollar being put to work toward the same outcome.” — Alon Cohen, Co-founder, Pump.fun
The token burn was widely viewed as an effort to strengthen token economics by reducing circulating supply.
The allegations surrounding Pump.Fun layoffs have emerged despite continued financial growth for the platform.
According to DefiLlama data cited in the report, Pump.fun generated approximately $19.1 million in revenue during the 30 days ending July 22. The figure includes trading fees, graduation fees, and Mayhem-related revenue.
Daily revenue also continued to increase, with DefiLlama recording $764,802 on July 22, representing a 22.6% month-over-month increase.
Since launching in March 2024, the platform has generated more than $1.07 billion in cumulative revenue, underscoring its rapid rise within the Solana ecosystem.
Supporters argue the revenue demonstrates continued user demand, while critics question whether the Pump.Fun layoffs were necessary given the company’s financial performance.
Despite the controversy, the market reaction has remained relatively muted.
PUMP traded near $0.0020 on Friday, rising almost 6% over 24 hours, although the token remains 77% below its September 2025 peak and roughly 49% beneath its initial coin offering price.
Beyond the employee complaints, the controversy has also renewed attention on Pump.fun’s corporate governance.
BeInCrypto reported that Baton Corporation Ltd, the UK entity behind Pump.fun, failed to submit financial accounts due to Companies House by June 30, 2026.
Those filings are expected to disclose employee numbers, information that could help verify the scale of the reported Pump.Fun layoffs.
The most recent publicly available accounts cover only the financial year ending March 2024.
Meanwhile, co-founders Noah Tweedale and Alon Cohen remain named defendants in a securities class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in January 2025.
Verification of the employee allegations remains limited. BeInCrypto noted that Sandmark was unable to independently confirm reports of a second round of layoffs, leaving several claims unverified.
Pump.fun did not immediately respond to BeInCrypto’s request for comment.
Until additional corporate filings or an official company statement are released, the dispute surrounding the Pump.Fun layoffs is likely to remain unresolved, with former employees seeking answers over missed token compensation and observers watching how one of crypto’s most profitable platforms responds to the growing criticism.
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