Pump.fun ICO raises record $500 million in 12 minutes as whales go big

Solana (SOL)-based meme coin platform Pump.fun (PUMP) has registered one of the fastest and largest ICOs in the cryptocurrency market, selling 125 billion PUMP tokens.

On-chain data shows the public token sale raised $500 million in just 12 minutes, with each token priced at $0.004. The company had aimed to raise $600 million from the offering.

Pump.fun token sale. Source: Pump.funPump.fun token sale. Source: Pump.fun**Pump.fun token sale. Source: Pump.funThe sale, which excluded U.S. participants and required full KYC compliance, offered 33% of PUMP’s total supply with no lock-up period.

It’s worth noting that Pump.fun rose to prominence in 2024 as the go-to platform for creating Solana-based meme coins

However, with this ICO, the company aims to move beyond meme culture, outlining plans to build a decentralized alternative to mainstream social platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Twitch.

Momentum had already been building ahead of the July 12 launch. Earlier in the week, Pump.fun acquired Kolscan, a Solana wallet tracker that ranks key opinion leaders (KOLs) based on their trading performance

The new feature will enable users to analyze top investor strategies in real-time, a compelling tool for retail traders seeking to track whale activity.

Whales bullish on PUMP

On that front, several whales placed large bets ahead of the ICO. According to Lookonchain data from July 12, three major wallets deposited around $7 million USDC into Hyperliquid, opening long positions on PUMP.

Lookonchain

PUMP(@pumpdotfun) is about to launch, and whales seem bullish!

3 whales deposited ~7M $USDC into Hyperliquid and opened long positions on $PUMP in the past hour. pic.twitter.com/XLxTzc6NyG

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 12, 2025

PUMP(@pumpdotfun) is about to launch, and whales seem bullish!

3 whales deposited ~7M $USDC into Hyperliquid and opened long positions on $PUMP in the past hour. pic.twitter.com/XLxTzc6NyG

One of them, known for turning a $1.19 million investment in Official Trump (TRUMP) into $438 million, created a new wallet and deposited $1 million USDC into the PUMP presale.

Not all bets were bullish, however. Another whale reportedly shorted PUMP using $8 million USDC at 2x leverage. By press time, the position was sitting on an unrealized loss of $800,000, with a looming liquidation price of $0.008513.

With the ICO and market sentiment broadly bullish, all eyes are on how PUMP will perform in the days ahead.

Featured image via Shutterstock

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