In a landmark case underscoring legal accountability in the cryptocurrency space, Jarett Dunn, a former senior developer for the meme coin launchpad Pump.fun, has been sentenced to six years in prison by a UK court. The sentencing follows Dunn's guilty plea to charges of fraud by abuse of position and transfer of criminal property.
The core of the case revolves around an incident in May 2024, when Dunn, who had worked for Pump.fun for just six weeks, exploited his privileged access to drain an estimated $2 million worth of Solana (SOL) from the platform's treasury. In a bizarre twist that captured public attention, Dunn did not keep the stolen funds. Instead, he distributed the entire sum to thousands of random cryptocurrency wallets, an act that quickly earned him the moniker "the Robin Hood of crypto."
Dunn immediately confessed to the crime on social media platform X, posting messages that included, "I'm about to change the course of history. [And] then rot in jail." He later joined an X Spaces session, stating he wanted to "kill" Pump.fun because "it's something to do." His defense attempted to frame the attack as a whistleblower action against a "malicious" site, but prosecutors dismissed this as "post-arrest spin," and the judge was not swayed.
The legal process was protracted. Dunn was arrested in London four days after the attack and was later hospitalized for mental health reasons. He initially pleaded guilty in August 2024 but attempted to withdraw the plea, leading his original legal team to quit. After months under police surveillance and a period in jail for breaching bail, he pleaded guilty again in August 2025. The Wood Green Crown Court handed down two concurrent six-year sentences. The court noted Dunn had already spent 308 days on tag and approximately five months in prison on remand, which will count toward his sentence.
Despite the high-profile theft, Pump.fun has continued to operate and has grown significantly. At the time of the incident, the platform had generated a lifetime revenue of $43.9 million. According to recent data, that figure has since ballooned to nearly $1 billion ($927.2 million), highlighting its success in the meme coin ecosystem.
