• Whales are betting against the upcoming Pump.fun ICO, with over $11 million in USDC deposited into Hyperliquid to short the token ahead of launch.
• The Pump.fun platform has raised skepticism, with the founder shifting from presale critic to ICO proponent, adding to concerns about transparency.
• Amid the controversy, significant Solana (SOL) holdings have been sold, and insiders may be cashing out before the potential volatility of the ICO.

While Solana-based platform Pump.fun’s much-hyped token launch is just days away, whales are not buying the narrative. Instead, they are betting against it.

Beyond this sentiment, interest also centers on Pump.fun founder turning face, moving from a presale skeptic to launching an ICO (Initial Coin Offering).

Whales Position Bearishly as Pump.fun ICO Sparks Skepticism

On-chain data shows at least $11 million in USDC has been deposited into Hyperliquid perpetual DEX. These depositions, all from several newly created wallets, came as executors short the upcoming PUMP token, with 1x to 2x leverage.

Lookonchain said one wallet recently moved $4 million in USDC into Hyperliquid and shorted PUMP with 2x leverage.

Another newly created wallet deposited 4M $USDC into Hyperliquid and shorted $PUMP(@pumpdotfun) with 2x leverage.https://t.co/OzFwrGUSji pic.twitter.com/jRZloqMwQC

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 10, 2025

Only hours before that, two other wallets combined for a $7 million short position on the same token.

2 wallets deposited 7M $USDC into Hyperliquid and shorted $PUMP(@pumpdotfun) with 1x leverage.https://t.co/RSOGbL1T43https://t.co/1nmntMYOvv pic.twitter.com/E3iwX1Dhxl

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 10, 2025

The timing is crucial, coming only 2 days before Pump.fun is launching its PUMP token via ICO on July 12. As BeInCrypto reported, a full tokenomics reveal is scheduled for the same day.

Pumpfun(@pumpdotfun) announced it will officially launch $PUMP via ICO on Saturday, July 12, along with revealing the tokenomics.

And #Pumpfun has not deposited any $SOL to #Kraken for about a month since June 10.https://t.co/eHBRgmHcSc pic.twitter.com/yOo41LdM60

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 9, 2025

The surge in bearish bets has fueled growing concerns about Pump.fun’s transparency and timing. Although the project has been one of the most active meme coin creation platforms, it was suspended from X (Twitter) only weeks ago.

Founder Flip-Flop and $741 Million Sell-Off Raise Flags

Further, the platform has since raised eyebrows over the massive offloading of Solana (SOL) holdings. Between May 19 and June 10, Pump.fun sold approximately 4.1 million SOL, worth roughly $741 million, at an average price of $180.

“Pump.fun, recently suspended by X, has sold a total of ~4.1M SOL ($741M) at an average price of ~$180 since May 19, 2024. 264,373 SOL was sold for 41.64M USDC at $158. 3.84M SOL ($699M) was deposited to Kraken at $182,” Lookonchain revealed in a June 17 post.

Lookonchain reported that 3.84 million SOL was deposited to Kraken for liquidation. No further deposits have been recorded since June 10.

The timing of this sell-off, paired with the ICO announcement, has sparked speculation that insiders may be cashing out ahead of potential volatility.

Another layer of controversy was added after the launchpad’s co-founder, Alon Cohen, called token presales scams.

if you’re a big CT personality and want to launch a coin, you have 2 alternatives:

1) Presale – have to market it to Valhalla to justify a valuation, massive pressure to perform, tons of room for error w/ setting it up, avoiding snipers, etc.

2) Pump dot fun launch – extremely…

— alon (@a1lon9) March 30, 2024

With Pump. Fun embracing the model, the upcoming launch marks a contradiction or change in perspective, turning heads, particularly amid little clarity on how the ICO funds will be allocated or governed.