Buddy's PUMP Defiance: Betting on Recovery as Market Doubts Mount

A prominent crypto investor known as "Buddy" currently holds a PUMP long position with a total value of $25.24 million, which is now marked by a $3.18 million unrealized loss. This position, monitored on Hyperliquid, reflects a significant shift from earlier reports that indicated a $2.17 million unrealized loss in the same asset. The increase in the unrealized loss underscores the volatility of the PUMP token, which has seen substantial price fluctuations since its launch.

The PUMP position has already incurred a realized loss of $8.14 million, according to on-chain tracking by LookOnChain. This figure highlights the cumulative impact of market movements on Buddy’s strategy, as the investor continues to add to the long position despite ongoing losses. The decision to maintain exposure to PUMP contrasts with the liquidation of other high-risk positions, such as the HYPE long, which contributed to a $13.5 million unrealized loss in Buddy’s broader portfolio.

The PUMP token’s performance has been a focal point for investors and analysts since its July 2025 launch, which raised $500 million in 12 minutes. However, the asset’s price has since declined from an initial exchange listing of $0.006 to $0.00585 as of September 2025. This drop, coupled with increased circulating supply and the absence of utility-driven value, has led to heightened scrutiny of PUMP’s fundamentals. Buddy’s continued investment in the token, despite these challenges, suggests a belief in potential future price recovery or strategic market conditions, such as anticipated regulatory clarity in the U.S. crypto sector.

Buddy’s portfolio also includes leveraged positions in ETH (25x leverage) and HYPE (5x leverage), which together contribute to a broader unrealized loss of $13.5 million. These positions reflect a high-risk, high-reward approach typical of aggressive crypto traders. The ETH position alone has a $1.645 million unrealized profit, indicating some offsetting gains in a portfolio otherwise dominated by losses. This divergence highlights the fragmented nature of Buddy’s strategy, balancing speculative bets on volatile assets like PUMP with more stable, leveraged exposure to Ethereum.

Analysts attribute the PUMP token’s struggles to its lack of intrinsic utility and reliance on speculative demand. While the platform has generated over $677 million in revenue from token launches since 2024, the absence of a clear use case for $PUMP has led to skepticism about its long-term viability. Buddy’s sustained investment in the asset, despite these fundamentals, may signal confidence in the project’s potential to introduce utility features or execute buybacks that could stabilize its price.

The broader crypto market context further complicates the outlook for PUMP. While Bitcoin’s rally has driven overall market optimism, meme coins like PUMP remain vulnerable to rapid shifts in sentiment. The token’s performance is also influenced by liquidity dynamics, as its exclusion from Binance—a key exchange for volume—has limited its trading activity. Buddy’s decision to hold PUMP in this environment suggests a calculated risk, leveraging the token’s popularity while navigating the uncertainties of a nascent market.

Source: [1] 「Brother Big V」 Huang Licheng Liquidates PUMP Long (https://www.theblockbeats.info/en/flash/305690) [2] 「Brother Big Brother」 Huang Licheng Holds and Longs PUMP (https://www.lookonchain.com/feeds/21763) [3] Data: Huang Licheng currently has an unrealized profit of 1.52… (https://www.chaincatcher.com/en/article/2199610) [4] Pump.fun Price Prediction 2025-2030 (https://cryptonews.com/price-predictions/pump-fun-price-prediction/)