A major class action lawsuit filed in December 2025 by law firms Burwick Law and Wolf Popper LLP in New York targets Solana-linked entities and the meme coin launchpad Pump.fun. The plaintiffs allege the platform operates as a "front-facing slot machine cabinet" designed to extract money from retail investors and are seeking over $16 billion in compensation.
The core allegation is that Pump.fun, with Solana Labs as a "knowing participant," used "superior infrastructure" to allow insiders to buy tokens milliseconds before the general public. The lawsuit cites over 5,000 internal chat logs as evidence of this coordination. Furthermore, it accuses the platform of moving hundreds of millions without proper licenses, lacking KYC protocols, and enabling money laundering, specifically referencing the Lazarus Group's alleged use of Pump.fun to launder funds from the $1.5 billion Bybit hack.
Perhaps most damaging is the claim that every token minted on Pump.fun is an unregistered security, as investors rely on marketing and bonding curves for profits, aligning with the Howey Test. This puts the future of over 20 million tokens launched on the platform in legal jeopardy.
While the SOL price faces technical pressure, testing support near $140, the lawsuit casts a regulatory shadow. Analysts note that the legal uncertainty could redirect institutional capital toward more stable platforms like Ethereum, which manages over $75 billion in DeFi assets compared to Solana's sub-$10 billion. Despite the lawsuit, Solana's network continues to expand, processing $1.6 trillion in volume in 2025 and seeing its real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem grow to a record $1.15 billion valuation.
