Rapidly Amassing Half a Billion Dollars via ICO in a Fleeting 12-Minute Span: The Pump.fun Saga
In a groundbreaking event for the crypto world, Pump.fun's Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of its PUMP token in July 2025 marked a significant milestone, raising an impressive **$500 million** within just 12 minutes[1]. The ICO, which took place on six exchanges and Pump.fun's on-chain platform, saw a total supply of **1 trillion tokens** distributed strategically among investors, the team, community projects, and early investors[2][3].
The ICO's rapid success made it one of the largest memecoin launches of the year and signalled a renewed interest in initial coin offerings[1]. However, the event was not without controversy, with some industry commentators and crypto researchers raising concerns about potential "grifts" and a lack of significant ecosystem reinvestment[2].
Following the ICO, PUMP launched with strong momentum, immediately ranking within the top 60 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a valuation of about $2 billion[4]. The token's price showed a positive trend, with up to a 20% variation above the ICO price, suggesting potential for significant growth[4].
Interestingly, over **11 million PUMP tokens** were minted, and futures contracts for the token were available on derivatives platforms like Hyperliquid, Coinbase International, Binance, and Phantom before the ICO[5]. The ICO represented 12.5% of the total supply, with approximately 44% of the purchases made from wallets funded in the last 24 hours[6].
The PUMP token, priced at **$0.004** during the ICO, has seen some fluctuations in the market. Pre-market prices jumped from $0.005 to $0.007 after the launch, and currently, it trades around $0.0059[7]. The 24-hour perpetual volumes for PUMP on Hyperliquid are $572 million, on Phantom are $3.5 million, and on Coinbase Intl. are $962,000[8].
As PUMP.fun moves forward, the platform continues to draw attention from investors, with a strong appeal within the crypto community[5]. The sharp price increase and strong leveraged volume indicate ongoing speculation about the PUMP token, even before it is officially unlocked for trading[1].
Sources: [1] Blockworks, [2] Cointelegraph, [3] Decrypt, [4] CoinMarketCap, [5] Hyperliquid, [6] Blockworks, [7] Hyperliquid, [8] unspecified source.
- The rapid success of Pump.fun's ICO in July 2025, which saw the sale of 11 million PUMP tokens across six exchanges and their on-chain platform, was a significant event in the crypto world, raising $500 million in just 12 minutes.
- Despite its initial success, concerns were raised about potential "grifts" and a lack of significant ecosystem reinvestment associated with the PUMP token, following the ICO.
- Interestingly, futures contracts for the PUMP token were available on technology platforms like Hyperliquid, Coinbase International, Binance, and Phantom before the ICO, and the token's price has shown fluctuations, currently trading around $0.0059, with significant trading volumes on these platforms.
