The meme coin launchpad Pump.fun has announced a significant strategic expansion with the launch of the Pump Fund, a $3 million initiative designed to finance early-stage, open-source projects built on its platform. This marks the platform's first major move beyond its core business of meme coin issuance into venture-style investing.
The fund will operate as a "Build in Public" hackathon running for one month, officially launched on January 19, 2026. It plans to select 12 projects, each receiving $250,000 in early-stage investment at a fixed valuation of $10 million. The funding is structured as an investment requiring token issuance, not a grant. A unique aspect of the selection process is that projects will be judged continuously by market participation metrics—such as traction, liquidity, and community engagement—rather than by a traditional panel.
The announcement triggered a substantial rally for the platform's native token, PUMP. The token surged more than 7% in 24 hours, extending its one-month gain to beyond 50%. At the time of reporting, PUMP was trading near $0.00266 and pushing toward a $1 billion market capitalization, having reached an intraday high of $0.0027 on January 22.
However, the bullish momentum is facing headwinds from significant whale activity and technical indicators. Data from Santiment shows a significant decline in the number of large holders (whales) controlling between 10,000 and 1 billion PUMP tokens. This erosion of whale support often diminishes buying pressure and leaves the price more vulnerable to volatility driven by retail sentiment.
Technically, the daily chart shows PUMP forming a rising broadening wedge pattern, which is typically associated with heightened volatility and potential bearish reversals. Key indicators like the MACD are nearing a bearish crossover, and the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) index is close to dropping below zero, signaling potential capital outflow. Analysts note that a sustained drop below the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) support at $0.0024 could trigger a further decline toward the December 24 low of $0.0016, representing a potential 38% drop from current levels.
