PUMP Token Faces Steep Decline Amid Airdrop Uncertainty

The native token of the meme coin launchpad, Pump.Fun ($PUMP), has seen a significant decline, dropping over 50% since its pre-sale. The initial surge following its ICO quickly faded as investors’ excitement over the airdrop announcement dwindled. The token’s price, which had spiked to $0.0067 after launch, has retraced back below its ICO price of $0.004. As of now, the price sits at $0.0031, with a 14% drop within the last 24 hours.

Airdrop Announcement Delayed

Founder Alon Cohen confirmed that the anticipated airdrop, which many investors had been eagerly awaiting, will not occur in the immediate future. Cohen, in a live interview with Michael “ThreadGuy” Jerome, emphasized that the team aims to execute a meaningful airdrop that rewards the community but prioritizes long-term platform development over short-term incentives. He mentioned that any further details or timelines for the airdrop would be shared once finalized.

Investor Sentiment Mixed

Despite the steep decline, some prominent investors are holding firm. Jeffrey Huang, known as Machi Big Brother, has added to his long position in PUMP, even as his investment is down over $5.8 million. On the other hand, wallets linked to private sale investors have offloaded more than 1.2 billion PUMP tokens at a loss of approximately $1 million. This sale reflects the market’s growing concerns over the token’s future trajectory.

Long-Term Focus Amid Short-Term Struggles

The decline in PUMP’s value highlights a shift in market sentiment. With reduced hype surrounding the airdrop, the token’s future seems to rely more on the platform’s core utility and long-term development. In the short term, market volatility is expected as investors adjust to the revised outlook, signaling that the token’s value may now be driven by its utility within the Pump.Fun ecosystem, rather than speculative airdrop-driven excitement.

PUMP holders should brace for continued price fluctuations as the platform works on gaining traction without the airdrop buzz.

Controversy Area	Key Concerns
Live-streaming content	Extreme and harmful broadcasts to promote tokens: – Live sex, fake suicides, pet abuse – Temporarily suspended in Nov 2024 – Quietly re-enabled April 2025 for ~5% of users
Fee extraction	– ~$741 million extracted via SOL token fees – Most users lost money – Influencers accuse it of enabling mass harm
Legal scrutiny	– UK users banned (Dec 2024) – Lawsuit over unregistered securities (Jan 2025) – RICO class action (Jul 2025) claims $4–5.5B in user losses
Token launch mechanics	– $600M PUMP token sale in 12 minutes (Jul 2025) – Fully diluted valuation hit $6.13B, dropped 18% post-launch – 40% team/investor allocation, no vesting – Critics call token over-inflated and utility-less
Gambling parallels	– Bonding-curve launches resemble gambling mechanics – Addictive hype cycles, emotional damage – Especially harmful to teens and inexperienced users