Solana News Today: Pump.Fun Lawsuit Expands to Solana, Jito, Alleges $722M Money Laundering Scheme

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Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025 6:51 pm ET1min read
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Aime RobotAime Summary

- Two law firms expanded a lawsuit against Pump.Fun to include Solana and Jito, alleging a $722M money laundering scheme via unregulated memecoins.

- The amended complaint accuses Solana Labs, Jito, and key executives of enabling illegal gambling and AML violations through infrastructure support.

- Plaintiffs claim Pump.Fun's bonding curve model facilitated criminal exploitation, including North Korea's Lazarus Group using the platform for illicit transactions.

- The RICO-based case could set a precedent for holding blockchain infrastructure providers liable for third-party platform activities.

Two law firms, Wolf Popper and Burwick Law, have expanded a lawsuit against the memecoin platform Pump.Fun to include

Solana
Labs, the Solana Foundation, and Jito, alongside key executives from each entity. The amended complaint, filed in Aguilar v.
Baton
Corp, alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as breaches of securities law and unlicensed money transmission under New York General Business Law [1]. The plaintiffs claim the defendants collaborated in an illegal
gambling
and money laundering operation, generating over $722 million through Pump.Fun’s “bonding curve” model, which mimics digital casino mechanics [1].

The lawsuit names Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, along with Solana Foundation members Dan Albert, Lily Liu, and Austin Federa. Jito’s leadership, including CEO Lucas Bruder and COO Brian Smith, is also cited. Pump.Fun’s founders—Dylan Kerler, Noah Bernhard, Hugo Tweedale, and Alon Cohen—are included as defendants. The complaint asserts that Solana Labs and Jito were “intentional participants” in the alleged fraud, enabling Pump.Fun’s activities by maintaining infrastructure and validator orchestration [1].

Legal claims focus on Pump.Fun’s failure to implement anti-money laundering (AML) measures, violating the Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN rules, and OFAC sanctions. The plaintiffs argue this negligence facilitated criminal exploitation, including money laundering by North Korea’s Lazarus Group through the “QinShihuang” memecoin, linked to the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in 2024 [1]. Additionally, Pump.Fun is accused of promoting tokens tied to “hate speech, violence, and exploitation” to drive trading volume, while also infringing on trademarks [1].

RICO allegations include illegal gambling, wire fraud, intellectual property theft, and unlicensed money transmission. The plaintiffs describe Pump.Fun as the “front-facing slot machine cabinet” of a broader scheme engineered by Solana and Jito leadership. The complaint further claims Jito “monitored the spins and intercepted profitable transactions,” allegedly redirecting funds to the highest bidder [1].

This case consolidates a separate class action brought by investors in the PNUT memecoin, led by plaintiffs Kendall Carnahan, Michael Okafor, and Diego Aguilar. The expanded lawsuit underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of crypto projects enabling unregulated financial activity. While the defendants have not yet issued public responses, the filing highlights the legal risks associated with decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms operating without traditional compliance frameworks [1].

The RICO Act, originally designed to combat organized crime, has rarely been applied to crypto entities. If successful, the lawsuit could set a precedent for holding blockchain infrastructure providers liable for the actions of third-party platforms built on their networks. The outcome may influence future regulatory approaches to DeFi and memecoin ecosystems, which often prioritize rapid growth over legal compliance.

Source: [1] [title1Solana and Jito Pump.Fun Lawsuit] [url1https://www.cryptopolitan.com/solana-and-jito-pump-fun-lawsuit/]