Jarett Dunn, a former senior developer at meme coin launchpad Pump.fun, is imprisoned in London after violating bail conditions while awaiting trial for stealing $2 million from the platform in May 2024. Dunn exploited private keys during his six-week tenure to drain SOL tokens from bonding curve contracts, later airdropping them to random wallets. He publicly claimed responsibility on Twitter, stating he wanted to "kill Pump.fun" due to personal grievances and calling it "horribly managed."
Initially pleading guilty to fraud charges in October 2024, Dunn reversed his plea during sentencing, leading his legal team to quit. His June 2025 unauthorised move from London to Liverpool breached bail terms, resulting in detention at HMP Pentonville. Dunn now faces at least seven years in prison if convicted.
Concurrently, Pump.fun has thrived, completing a $600 million initial coin offering and accumulating $770 million in lifetime revenue—up from $43.9 million at the time of Dunn's theft. Its newly launched PUMP token ranks as the 68th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fueling viral meme coins like Moo Deng and Chill Guy despite criticism over facilitating pump-and-dump schemes.