Kraken to Airdrop $PUMP Tokens at 59% Premium After Sale Glitch

Kraken, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it will compensate users who were unable to complete their purchases of $PUMP tokens during the recent token sale due to system constraints. The exchange plans to conduct an airdrop of $PUMP tokens to those affected, purchasing the tokens from secondary markets where they are currently trading above the public sale price. This decision follows the rapid subscription of the $PUMP token sale, which was fully subscribed in under sixty seconds, with demand far exceeding the available supply.

Co-CEO Arjun Sethi confirmed the airdrop, stating that the exchange reviewed internal order logs and client activity to identify those who were unable to complete their purchases. The distribution will be automatic and free of charge, with eligibility based on verified intent to order during the sale window. However, the exact number of users who will receive tokens has not been disclosed.

Kraken's global head of consumer business announced that impacted users will receive an email soon. The exchange will acquire $PUMP tokens from the secondary market to fulfill the airdrop. At the time of writing, $PUMP is trading at around $0.0064, which is above the $0.004 public sale price. This indicates that affected users may receive tokens at a premium compared to the original offering.

Kraken was not the only exchange facing issues during the $PUMP sale. Bybit issued an apology after users reported problems placing orders just seconds after the sale opened. The exchange initially blamed the delay on Pump.fun but later edited the statement. BitGet, MEXC, KuCoin, and Gate also participated in the sale, but none have announced similar airdrop plans. Bybit has said it will share an additional update soon.

The $PUMP token sale was part of a $500 million ICO that concluded in just 12 minutes. However, the platform did not distribute the full number of tokens originally announced for the public sale. The public sale offered 150 billion $PUMP tokens, part of a 33% ICO allocation from a 1 trillion token supply, running until July 15 or until sold out.