Pump.fun's $86M Token Vesting Fiasco: 40 Employees Laid Off at Critical Time

Pump.fun, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad, has been embroiled in controversy after reportedly laying off more than 40 employees across two rounds of layoffs just weeks before their PUMP token grants were set to vest.

The layoffs, which took place in April and July this year, involved workers who qualified for the token allocations agreed upon in June 2025. According to an investigative report by Sandmark, those laid off in the first wave lost their tokens that were supposed to be unlocked in June 2026, with one of them stating the value of the forfeited tokens was worth millions of dollars.

The timing of the layoffs has raised concerns about the compensation policies of crypto companies, which increasingly rely on equity- or token-based incentives. Pump.fun, which generates a daily income of around $1 million and has earned $1.3 billion in lifetime revenue, publicly posted a Chief Legal Officer role with a $1-5M base salary, further fueling concerns.