Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun is going through a storm after a wave of users abusing the Livestream feature to pump their tokens went viral. The recent malicious behavior comes amid the memecoin craze, which has seen many in the community apply fraudulent tactics to capitalize on the sector’s popularity.
Solana Memecoin madness turns into chaos on live stream
On Monday, Solana’s Pump.fun platform faced backlash after several users spread harmful and violent content using the platform’s Livestream feature to go viral and pump their tokens.
The “trend” appears to have started last week when a 12-year-old trader launched a memecoin called Gen Z Quant (QUANT) and tried to lure investors while livestreaming from Pump.fun. However, the crypto community took over the token, raised it to a market cap of $80 million, and labeled the kid and his family as “revenge.”
After this incident, there was a wave of users “taking advantage” of the live streaming feature. Users created numerous Solana memecoins over the weekend, online reports show controversial hints pump your chips.
This trend mimics the tactics of users of other streaming platforms, who promise to do something if they achieve a specific goal. The goals could be gifts, fresh followers or views. It is worth adding that it was also used to collect donations for noble causes.
Nevertheless, crypto token creators threaten to harm themselves, those around them, or animals if their memecoins do not reach a certain market capitalization. Reports indicate that the 12-year-old declared that he would execute the family if his token did not work.
Users' controversial threats. Source: dumpy.fun on X
Similarly, one juvenile “programmer” threatened to bomb his school. Another creator live-streamed himself shooting out the window every time his memecoin spiked. One user tied a woman in her underwear to a chair and promised to remove her clothes if the market cap reached $100,000.
Some livestreams promoted anti-Semitism and racism, including a stream that featured a man dressed as Hitler and people stating in the chat that they “support” Nazis. Meanwhile, several users threatened and even practiced various forms of child and animal abuse.
Users call for Pump.Fun to be shut down
The cryptocurrency community has responded to the controversial trend by criticizing memecoin launcher Solana for allowing this content on its platform. Several users have called the situation a “Black Mirror episode,” noting that the continued behavior is problematic regardless of whether the treats are real or just a controversial joke.
Some of the community called for closing the launcher, or at least the Livestream function, pointing out how harmful this content could be to the industry’s popularity. Meanwhile, others have suggested that shutting down the platform is not the solution, saying it is a cultural problem and not a Pump.fun problem.
Crypto Community reacts to the livestream trend. Source: X
It is worth noting that Pump.fun became the most popular token launcher this year because it made it easier to create and deploy memecoins. In the third quarter, the launcher outperformed Ethereum and most Solana protocols, generating twice the fees and revenues of those projects.
According to Dune data, the Solana-based starter does distributed since its inception, over 3.82 million tokens and has generated total revenue of $247 million. Notably, Pump.fun had its highest revenue on Saturday, earning over $14 million in one day, but the continuing trend and criticism overshadowed that.
Recently, the leader of the platform, Alon found that “after enabling the live streaming meta, many people raised very valid concerns about what content was allowed on the platform.”
He noted that it is not their job to provide a platform to bad actors, but argued that the Pump.fun team “actively moderates illegal content on the site. This includes images, videos, live streams and comments.” However, as the recent trend continues, users continue to ask for more transparency and better moderation.
Solana (SOL) is trading at $251 in the weekly chart. Source: SOLUSDT on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
