Class action targets Pump.fun and Solana over uneven playing field in memecoin trades

It’s worth noting that the first lawsuits were filed back in March 2025. As the case moved forward, plaintiffs say new details and additional testimony surfaced. On January 13, users filed a new class action complaint against Baton Corporation Ltd., which operates under the Pump.Fun brand.

At the heart of the allegations is the claim that Solana has transaction-priority mechanisms. A user can pay a higher fee or leave a “tip” so their transaction gets processed sooner. The lawsuit describes this as a tool that lets people who already know a token launch is coming buy up a large share of the supply in the first seconds, then sell once retail traders start piling in. The filing mentions Jito (an infrastructure project in the Solana ecosystem) that builds MEV tooling and transaction-priority services. Plaintiffs argue those tools can help participants “push” transactions through while others wait in line.

A major focus in the latest filings is a trove of messages. Plaintiffs say they have more than 5,000 private messages that document discussions about technical integration between teams at Solana Labs and Pump.fun.

The most widely cited excerpt involves risk warnings attributed to one of Pump.fun’s founders. The complaint quotes a message in which co-founder Alon Cohen says that “most participants lose money” buying memecoins on the platform. He reportedly framed it as a natural outcome of trading ultra-low-cap assets, which can resemble gambling and comes with poor odds from the start.

The filings also reference statements from anonymous sources claiming that some crypto influencers (KOLs) were paid to promote memecoins without disclosing commercial arrangements. Plaintiffs allege that the compensation sometimes included tips on which coins to buy early, allowing favored buyers to get positioned before the main wave of demand.

As the case progresses, the parties are expected to push for disclosure during discovery. That phase is often where the central question gets answered: who made money from any advantage tied to transaction priority.

Pump.fun became one of the biggest memecoin launch engines on Solana in 2024. The platform offers a simple token-creation flow that doesn’t require deep technical skills: users connect a wallet, upload an image, set a name and ticker, and pay a small fee in SOL.

Early trading takes place on Pump.fun using a bonding-curve model. Once a token reaches a certain market cap, it moves to Raydium, where it becomes available to a wider audience.