Pump.fun allegedly laid off over 40 employees right before their $PUMP tokens vested

Pump.fun, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad that has generated roughly $1.3 billion in cumulative revenue, reportedly cut more than 40 employees across two rounds of layoffs. The timing, according to an investigative report from Sandmark, was not coincidental: the terminations allegedly landed right before those employees’ $PUMP token grants were set to vest. What happened and when According to the Sandmark report, Pump.fun, which operates under Baton Corporation Ltd, conducted the first wave of layoffs in early April 2026. A second round followed in mid-July 2026. The $PUMP token grants in question were originally agreed upon in June 2025. The first tranche was set to vest around June 2026, meaning employees who were let go in April were cut just weeks before they would have been eligible. At least one former employee claims their now-forfeited allocation was valued in the seven figures. Pump.fun has not publicly commented on the allegations. A billion-dollar machine with a governance problem The platform generates approximately $1 million in daily profit. Its cumulative revenue sits at around $1.3 billion, making it one of the most financially successful projects in the entire ...