At least one former employee lost seven figures worth of tokens following an abrupt termination. Pump.fun, a platform operated by Baton Corp., carried out a wave of layoffs in late March and early April 2026 following a period of rapid internal expansion.
Internal documents, emails, and recordings verified by Sandmark show a recurring pattern: several employees lost their jobs right before their PUMP token allocations were scheduled to vest. These workers had previously signed token grant agreements in June 2025. The promised schedule was straightforward: the initial 25% of tokens would vest after completing one full year of employment, with the remainder released incrementally. However, when the layoffs occurred, severance packages only accounted for tenure, while all unvested PUMP allocations were forfeited and canceled.
In a leaked internal recording, co-founder Noah Tweedale cited that the company had “grown too quickly.” This situation led leadership to feel they could no longer operate in the “fast and rough” style of the company’s early days.
Is There a Second Wave?
These internal issues appear far from settled. New allegations surfaced from an X account named “ex pump employee,” claiming a second round of layoffs took place in mid-July. The account stated that around 40 employees were dismissed, timed exactly one day before their next vesting date. Sandmark has not been able to independently verify these latest claims.
Beyond the layoffs, the same account made additional unverified claims. Pump.fun was alleged to have never intended to conduct a public airdrop for the PUMP token, claiming executives were “against giving out free money” to ecosystem users.
Amid the controversy, on-chain data recorded massive token movements. A total of 57.279 billion PUMP tokens, valued at $86.49 million at July 15 price levels, were transferred to 121 wallets. This distribution marks the beginning of a three-year vesting period designated for the team and early investors.
The Fate of Millions of Tokens on the Platform
PUMP’s price is currently hovering around $0.002. While posting a nearly 5% gain over the past 24 hours, the token remains 77% below its all-time high set in September 2025.
A June 2026 study by CoinGecko highlighted the harsh reality of the platform’s ecosystem. Out of a total 18.67 million tokens created on Pump.fun between January 2024 and June 2026, the vast majority were short-lived. Roughly 68.67% of those, or 12.8 million tokens, recorded their final bonding-curve transaction on the exact day of launch.
For some former Pump.fun workers, losing access to promised tokens has been a steep price to pay for the company’s shift in direction. Reported via crypto.news.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
