Pump.fun Litigation Case One-Year Review: 15,000 Chat Records Uncover the Truth Behind "Black Box Trading"

As the Meme coin market went into a frenzy in early 2025, a lawsuit concerning the entire Solana ecosystem was quietly unfolding in New York. From a complaint by an investor who lost $231 to allegations involving Solana Labs and Jito Labs of RICO conspiracy, this legal battle turned around within just 12 months — and that mysterious evidence containing over 15,000 internal chat records could potentially rewrite the entire story.

From Small Losses to Class Action: How the Case Gained Momentum

Back in January 2025, Kendall Carnahan filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York after losing $231 on Pump.fun by purchasing $PNUT tokens. At first glance, it seemed like just another common complaint from an investor dissatisfied with a crypto platform.

But two weeks later, investor Diego Aguilar also filed a similar suit, involving more tokens — $FRED, $FWOG, $GRIFFAIN, and other Meme coins. More importantly, Aguilar’s lawsuit represented all investors who bought unregistered tokens on Pump.fun.

These two separate lawsuits quickly drew the attention of Judge Colleen McMahon. She keenly realized that two lawsuits against the same defendant, platform, and illegal conduct should not be handled separately. On June 26, 2025, Judge McMahon ordered the cases to be consolidated. Under the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA), the investor with the largest loss, Michael Okafor, was appointed as lead plaintiff — his account had lost approximately $242,000.

This consolidation marked a shift in the nature of the lawsuit: from individual rights protection to a class action.

The Real Bombshell: From Pump.fun to the Entire Solana Ecosystem

Things truly escalated one month after the case was consolidated.

On July 23, 2025, the plaintiffs submitted a [“Amended Consolidated Complaint”](Amended Consolidated Complaint), and the defendant list suddenly expanded — no longer limited to Pump.fun and its three founders, but directly targeting Solana Labs, the Solana Foundation, their executives, as well as Jito Labs and its leadership.

This document changed everything. The plaintiffs no longer merely claimed Pump.fun was operating illegally; they accused these three entities of forming a close-knit conspiracy: Solana provides blockchain infrastructure, Jito supplies MEV tools, and Pump.fun manages the platform. In other words, what appeared to be a decentralized ecosystem was actually a carefully manipulated system.

Five Core Allegations: Beyond Simple “Losses”

Careful review of hundreds of pages of the lawsuit reveals that the plaintiffs’ accusations go far beyond “investment losses.”

First: Unregistered Securities Sales

Under the US Securities Act of 1933, Meme tokens issued on Pump.fun, according to the Howey test, essentially constitute investment contracts and should be considered securities. Yet Pump.fun never registered with the SEC(SEC) and openly sold these tokens to the public. The platform used a “bonding curve” mechanism to sell tokens but failed to disclose risks, financial status, or project background — all mandatory disclosures for registered securities.

Second: Operating Illegal Gambling Business

The plaintiffs define Pump.fun as a “Meme coin casino.” They point out that users depositing SOL to buy tokens are essentially “placing bets,” with outcomes mainly driven by market speculation and luck, not the tokens’ intrinsic value. Pump.fun, acting as the “house,” charges a 1% fee on each transaction — akin to casino operations.

Third: False Advertising and Fraudulent Promotions

Pump.fun promoted “Fair Launch,” “No Presale,” and “Rug-proof,” creating an illusion of equal opportunity for all. But the lawsuit reveals a harsh truth: the platform secretly integrated Jito’s MEV technology. This means informed traders and those willing to pay extra “tips” could use “Jito bundles” to buy tokens ahead of others and cash out immediately as prices rose — classic front-running.

Fourth: Money Laundering and Unlicensed Remittances

The plaintiffs allege Pump.fun received and transferred large sums without any remittance license. More seriously, the lawsuit claims the platform even helped North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group launder money. The hackers issued a Meme token called “QinShihuang” on Pump.fun, using the platform’s high liquidity and trading volume to mix illegal proceeds with legitimate investor funds.

Fifth: Complete Lack of Investor Protections

Unlike traditional financial platforms, Pump.fun did not implement any KYC (Know Your Customer), AML (Anti-Money Laundering), or basic age verification measures.

The core argument is that this is not a typical market-volatile investment platform but a carefully designed scam system from inception to make retail investors lose and insiders profit.

August Turning Point: RICO Conspiracy Allegations

As evidence accumulated, the lawsuit’s severity escalated again. On August 21, 2025, the plaintiffs filed a [“RICO Complaint”](RICO Complaint), formally accusing all defendants of forming a “racketeering organization” operating a manipulated “Fair Launch Platform” disguised as a Meme coin casino.

This marked a shift from mere securities violations to organized crime charges — one of the most severe allegations under US anti-fraud laws.

The Turning Point: Mysterious Whistleblower’s 15,000 Chat Records

Everything changed dramatically after September.

An anonymous “confidential informant” provided the plaintiffs’ legal team with the first batch of internal chat records — about 5,000 messages. These purportedly came from internal communications of Pump.fun, Solana Labs, and Jito Labs, documenting technical coordination and business exchanges among the three parties.

The appearance of this evidence was like striking gold. Prior allegations of technical collusion, MEV manipulation, and front-running were just speculations without direct proof. But these internal conversations could theoretically establish a “conspiracy” among the three.

A month later, on October 21, 2025, the same whistleblower provided a second batch — over 10,000 chat records and related documents. These materials reportedly include:

• How Pump.fun integrated technically with Solana Labs
• How Jito’s MEV tools were incorporated into Pump.fun’s trading system
• Discussions among the three about “optimizing” trading processes (the plaintiffs claim this was euphemistic for market manipulation)
• How insiders exploited information advantages for trading

In court filings, the plaintiffs’ lawyers stated these chats “expose a carefully crafted fraud network,” proving Pump.fun, Solana, and Jito’s relationship far exceeds simple “tech partnerships.”

The Final Chapter of the Timeline: Key Moments in 2026

Handling over 15,000 chat records for review, filtering, translation (some possibly non-English), and legal analysis is a huge task. With Christmas and New Year holidays approaching, the plaintiffs’ legal team is clearly under tight schedule.

On December 10, 2025, the plaintiffs requested an extension to submit the [“Second Amended Complaint”](Second Amended Complaint). Just one day later, on December 11, Judge McMahon approved the extension. The new deadline is set for January 7, 2026.

This means after the New Year, the “Second Amended Complaint” containing all new evidence may present more shocking allegations.

Market Silence and Case Buzz

Interestingly, despite the lawsuit’s expanding scale and influence, the crypto market’s reaction has been surprisingly muted.

According to latest data, PUMP’s current price is $0.00 (extremely low), with a 24-hour decline of -1.84%, 24-hour trading volume of $4.34 million, and a circulating market cap of $14.1 billion. Compared to the peak in January 2025 (trading volume $33 billion), Pump.fun’s weekly volume has dropped over 80%, and PUMP token has fallen about 78% from its all-time high.

However, Solana’s price has not reacted sharply to the lawsuit; the decline of PUMP mainly reflects the overall Meme coin trend’s downturn, not the lawsuit directly.

Pump.fun co-founder and COO Alon Cohen has not spoken publicly for over a month, and the leadership of Solana and Jito has maintained a strange silence — no public responses to the lawsuit.

Unanswered Questions

A year into the lawsuit, more questions than answers have emerged:

About the Whistleblower: Who is this mysterious person providing chat records? A former employee, a competitor, or an undercover regulator?

About the Evidence: What exactly do those 15,000 chat records contain? Genuine proof of conspiracy, or just routine business communications taken out of context?

About the Defense: How will the defendants respond? Do they have enough counter-evidence?

About the Outcome: How will the “Second Amended Complaint” filed on January 7, 2026, influence the case?

As the new year begins and new evidence is fully disclosed, this lawsuit may enter a real battleground. By then, some answers to fundamental questions — whether the crypto ecosystem is truly decentralized, whether “fair launch” is genuine — might finally surface.