Pump Fun is firing staff and its company filings are overdue, report

Memecoin platform Pump Fun reportedly fired staff members months before their Pump Fun tokens were about to be unlocked, leaving one employee cut off from a potential seven-figure payout.

That’s according to crypto news outlet Sandmark, which obtained recordings and files on the firings.

It reports that Pump Fun was able to grow its employee count to 100 this year. However, recordings of a March meeting revealed the platform’s co-founder Noah Tweedale telling staff that layoffs were needed as Pump Fun “grew too quickly” and couldn’t move “fast and rough.”

Sandmark claims that several employees were terminated in April. Many of those affected reportedly signed a token agreement in mid-June 2025 that would’ve seen a quarter of their Pump Fun tokens unlocked two months later.

According to one X account claiming to campaign on behalf of Pump Fun employees who were laid off before their vesting period unlocked, over 40 staff members have faced the chop in the last two months.

The account’s owner says they were laid off just one day before the vesting period unlocked, and that many of the employees were “treated like cattle.”

They have since restricted the account and deleted one of its posts.

Read more: Crypto firms cut jobs as bear market and AI shift bite

Pump Fun is behind on its regulatory filings

Sandmark also spotted that the business accounts of Pump Fun’s UK parent company, Baton Corporation, are overdue by one month. Indeed, UK Companies House states the accounts dated up to 30 September 2025 are yet to be filed.

It says the penalty for being more than a month overdue is £375 ($505), over three months is £750 ($1,010), and over six months will land Pump Fun with a fine of £1,500 ($2,020).

Of course, this is chump change for a firm that recently hit cumulative revenue of over $1 billion. Its PUMP token, however, is down almost 76% since it’s all-time high last September.

Read more: Coldcard attack: 25 minutes, 500 wallets, $38M in BTC gone

Pump Fun has joined a raft of crypto firms that have fired staff this year. However, the firm’s “grew too quickly” explanation appears to differ from the prevailing narrative across the industry.

When crypto exchange Coinbase announced in May that it would lay off 14% of its workforce, it claimed this was due to market conditions and Coinbase’s desire to incorporate AI. 

Gemini also let go of 25% of its staff in February while citing AI changes, while Jack Dorsey’s Block cited AI when it decided to fire 50% (around 4,000 members) of its staff. 

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