Cryptocurrency analytics firm Bubblemaps has uncovered that Hayden Davis, a figure previously linked to major fraud schemes, was the second-largest investor in the secretive private funding round for the meme coin Pump.fun (PUMP) ahead of its July 2025 public launch.
According to on-chain analysis, Davis invested 50 million USDC in the private round, which was marketed as exclusive to institutional investors. In return, he was allocated 12.5 billion PUMP tokens upon the token's launch. On the launch day itself, Davis sold a portion of these tokens, generating approximately $65 million in revenue and securing a profit of around $15 million.
The revelation raises significant questions about investor vetting processes. Pump.fun had stated the private round was for institutional investors only, yet Davis's involvement and how he passed any potential KYC (Know Your Customer) checks remain unclear. Bubblemaps confirmed the wallet address belonged to Davis through multiple on-chain connections, though ownership was only recently verified.
Davis's history is marred by controversy. He was reportedly an advisor for the LIBRA token project in early 2025, which garnered attention after endorsement by Argentine President Javier Milei. The project later collapsed when eight team-linked wallets sold $107 million in tokens, causing losses for 114,410 investors. Davis is also alleged to have made roughly $12 million from aggressive trading at the launch of the YZY token in August 2025, a token that reached a $3 billion market cap before crashing.
This incident underscores persistent transparency and accountability issues within cryptocurrency funding, particularly concerning undisclosed participants in private sales who have problematic track records.
