Pump.fun Revenue Surges 1700% Post-Attack Despite Founder's Arrest

Jarett Dunn, a former senior developer at Pump.fun, is currently being held in a London prison after violating his bail conditions. Dunn, a Canadian national, was arrested for his involvement in an attack on the Solana memecoin platform, which resulted in an estimated $2 million being drained from Pump.fun. The funds were then airdropped to random wallet addresses. Dunn had been living in London for eight months before moving to Liverpool in early June, citing a preference for the city's "emptiness." This move, however, violated his bail conditions, which restricted his movement and required him to wear an ankle tag for monitoring. As a result, Dunn was initially imprisoned in Walton Prison in Liverpool and later transferred to HMP Pentonville in London in July.

Dunn initially pleaded guilty to fraud by abusing his position and transferring criminal property, but later requested to withdraw his guilty plea during an October hearing. This led to his legal team quitting the case. Since then, Dunn has been awaiting a hearing to formally withdraw his guilty plea. Recently, he has been considering pleading guilty again, as indicated in a social media post made by his friend Mark Kelly. Dunn, who has been dubbed the "crypto Robin Hood" by some, has been communicating with his supporters from behind bars.

Before Dunn's attack on the platform, Pump.fun had gained popularity but had also attracted criticism for being a hotspot for pump-and-dump schemes and questionable promotional stunts. Dunn stated that he wanted to "kill Pump.fun" because it had been hurting people for a long time and was only going to get worse. At the time of the crime, Dunn had been diagnosed with several mental health conditions, including schizoaffective bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and ADHD, but had not been taking any medication for three months. He was deemed unfit to face an interview due to his mental health and was hospitalized under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act. Despite his mental health issues, Dunn could still face a minimum of seven years in prison.

Pump.fun, meanwhile, has seen significant growth in revenue since the attack. The platform's lifetime income has increased from $43.9 million at the time of the attack to $770 million in July. Pump.fun became a hub for the meme coin craze, giving rise to several controversial tokens. Dunn was arrested just as his old boss was preparing for a massive initial coin offering worth $600 million. Earlier this week, Pump.fun completed its ICO and debuted its PUMP coin. The platform has raised a total of $1.9 billion in liquid funds through revenue, public sale, and private investors. However, there has been no announcement regarding an airdrop of the 24% of its supply set aside for community and ecosystem initiatives. Currently, Pump.fun is the 68th largest cryptocurrency by market cap.