The weeks leading up to Pump.funās ICO were contentious: accusations that it was extractive, debates over decentralization, and outrage over allocations.
In the end, the company pulled off the third-largest ICO in crypto history, raising $600 million in 12 minutes.
The day of, Solana barely flinched under the load, and onchain platforms like Hyperliquid and Raydium left CEXes looking outdated.
In this episode of Unchained, Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly and Joe McCann of Asymmetric join Laura to break down:
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Whether this marks the return of ICOs
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The objections to the small ($10 million) airdrop to creators
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How Pump.funās ambitions could reshape memecoins, and maybe Solana itself
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And why TikTok might not need to worry just yet
Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com
Timestamps:
š¬ 0:00 Intro
š 3:43 Why Joe says Pump.fun is one of the best crypto businesses heās seen
š 6:04 Whether this heralds the return of ICO mania
š¤ 7:11 Why the raise triggered backlash from parts of the crypto community
šø 8:32 Whether PUMPās valuation can really be justified
āļø 12:10 How the exchange-first design created issuesāand why others may copy it
š 16:15 Whether PUMPās distribution model helped or hurt its credibility
ā³ 21:43 Why the decision to have no token lockups sparked debate
š¾ 24:40 What kind of traders actually bought into the ICO
ā” 32:56 Whether Solanaās performance makes it the new home for ICOs
š¦ 37:50 Why Coinbase sat this one out
š® 44:07 Where PUMPās price might be headed in the medium term
š 48:37 How Pump.fun lost some momentumāand what that says about the space
š§ 55:14 How Pump.fun plans to spend its $600 million war chest
šµ 57:21 Whether Pump.fun can really take on Facebook
š„ 1:01:46 Why Joe still believes memecoins are just getting started
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