Pump.fun Exploit: Ex-Employee Steals $1.9M in SOL Tokens

• Pump.fun has resumed trading following a recent platform exploit.
• The memecoin project identified an ex-employee to be behind the recent exploit.
• The project’s team outlined new protocols for users, assuring them of funds’ safety.

Pump.fun, a platform for launching memecoins on the Solana blockchain, has resumed operations following a recent exploit that resulted in the theft of nearly $1.9 million. The Pump.fun team attributed the attack to a former employee who misused their privileged access to misappropriate funds.

In the process, the bad actor used their privileged position at the company to misappropriate nearly 12,300 SOL, equivalent to almost $1.9 million. The team confirmed that normal operations have resumed and user funds are safe. They have also implemented security upgrades to prevent similar attacks in the future.

Following the resumption of services, Pump.fun told users they could launch new coins on the platform and trade any coin that did not reach 100% during a specified interval. For compensation, the memecoin project’s team promised that any coin that reached 100% within the specified period would go live on Raydium with at least 100% of its original liquidity. The platform is currently offering a grace period with waived trading fees and additional liquidity for certain memecoins.

Meanwhile, the team told users it had upgraded the contracts to stop the attacker from siphoning more funds. The project’s team also paused trading activities, prevented users from buying or selling, and halted funds migration to Raydium.The incident has raised concerns about the security of memecoin platforms and the potential for insider threats. Igor Igamberdiev, head of research at Wintermute, previously expressed suspicion of an inside job on social media.