According to a jaw-dropping report from Pine Analytics, token deployers on Pump.fun have been playing a game of "fund my secret wallet and we'll rob everyone together." This digital heist affected over 15,000 token launches, making Ocean's Eleven look like amateur hour.
— Pine Analytics (@PineAnalytics) April 21, 2025
These sniper wallets, apparently programmed during US trading hours (between Netflix binges), execute strategies so standardized they might as well have "I'm manipulating markets" tattoos. And thanks to unrelated bot activity creating the perfect smokescreen, these digital ninjas blend in better than chameleons at a paint sample convention.
Related news: Pump.fun Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Unregistered Securities Sales
Meme Coin Wild West Where Snipers Never Miss
Pump.fun has somehow maintained its popularity as Solana's meme coin saloon despite having more controversies than a celebrity's Twitter account.
Pine Analytics has now added another skeleton to the platform's closet, uncovering market manipulation so systematic it deserves its own organizational chart. These shenanigans account for a whopping 1.75% of all launch activity—that's like finding out 1.75% of all Vegas slot machines are rigged (shocking, I know).
"Our analysis reveals this isn't just a few bad apples—it's practically an orchard," the report might as well have said.
"Over 15,000 SOL in profit was extracted through this digital sleight of hand, involving 4,600+ sniper wallets and 10,400+ deployers. These wallets have success rates that would make professional gamblers weep (87% profitable), exits cleaner than a cat after grooming, and operational patterns more structured than a military parade."
The typical scam plays out like a well-rehearsed con: developers fund one or more digital accomplices and whisper sweet token launch secrets into their virtual ears. These snipers then buy tokens faster than you can say "market manipulation" and dump them almost immediately—85% within five minutes and 90% in just one or two swap events.
Pump.fun meme coin developers use this trick to create fake demand illusions that would make David Copperfield jealous. Meanwhile, retail investors—bless their trusting hearts—buy these tokens after the invisible dump, essentially funding the developers' next vacation.
Pine Analytics had to use detective skills that would impress Sherlock Holmes to identify the real snipers. Apparently, about 50% of meme coin launches involve sniping, but that's mostly bots using the "spray and pray" method (the digital equivalent of throwing spaghetti at a wall).
However, by filtering out snipers with no obvious connections to developer wallets, the firm likely missed projects that covered their tracks better than teenagers cleaning their room before asking for money.
In other words, the meme coin community has about as much defense against systematic abuse on Pump.fun as a sandcastle against high tide. While the platform could theoretically flag repeat offenders, the snipers would just evolve faster than fashion trends.
Unfortunately, enacting effective policies might be harder than explaining blockchain to your grandparents. Meme coin sniping is so ingrained in the system that Pump.fun would need commitment stronger than New Year's resolutions to fight it.
Analysts believe that building an on-chain culture valuing transparency over extraction is the best long-term solution—a shift so seismic that the meme coin sector might not survive it, like dinosaurs facing an asteroid with tiny arms.
Emmanuel Ekokotu
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