Ex-Employee Steals $2M, Accidentally Sends Pump.fun Soaring

Network outages, multi-billion hacks, rug pulls, internal thefts… the crypto industry keeps shocking. Every week seems to deliver its share of crazy stories. But that of Jarett Dunn, former developer at Pump.fun, checks all the boxes. A spectacular theft, a strange manhunt, confessions on X, and a crypto platform that explodes… despite the sabotage. This case, as absurd as it is symptomatic, shines a harsh light on the sometimes puzzling behind-the-scenes of the crypto world and the Solana network.

He steals 2 million at Pump.fun and pleads guilty from his cell

On August 14th, Jarett Dunn officially pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and transfer of criminal assets. The former senior developer at Pump.fun siphoned approximately 2 million dollars in SOL from the inside. The attack dates back to May 2024, but it was from London’s HMP Pentonville prison that he confirmed his guilt, after initially trying to retract.

The Pump.fun platform, based on Solana, allows the creation of memecoins in a few clicks. At the time of the attack, it was generating 43.9 million dollars in revenue. Dunn emptied the coffers in barely 100 minutes, transferring the stolen funds to random addresses with no chance of return.

On X, he mocks: 

I’m about to change the course of history. and then rot in jail.

His guilt, despite attempts to reverse, was confirmed after months of delayed procedures. He faces up to 7 years in prison, his case ranked category 1A. A chilling figure for a theft that stopped the platform for nine hours.

Solana, schizophrenia, and storytelling: the unlikely hero of a real theft

But the story doesn’t stop at the code. It’s a mix of mental suffering, idealism, and crypto strategy that turned Dunn into a… quasi-mystical figure for some netizens. Diagnosed schizoaffective, bipolar, suffering panic disorders and addiction, Dunn claimed not to have taken his medication for months at the time of the events.

Admitted involuntarily to a psychiatric hospital after his arrest, he said: 

My whole life has been a mental episode, so it’s hard to tell.

He has been nicknamed “the Robin Hood of crypto.” For some, he wanted to “kill” Pump.fun before the platform became toxic. In a public audio session, Dunn declared this project has been harming people for too long. He wanted to stop it. 

But paradoxically, this action propelled Pump.fun to the top. In less than 17 months, the platform generated 791 million in revenue. By launching tokens like Fartcoin or Moo Deng, it became a viral and cultural laboratory on Solana. Its own token, PUMP, reached 1.27 billion market capitalization.

The 5 crazy facts of the Jarett Dunn case: 

• In May 2024, he emptied 2 million $ of SOL in less than 2 hours;
• He was located in London through his Instagram posts by a private firm;
• The theft caused an estimated indirect loss of 10 million $ for Pump.fun;
• He broke his parole by moving to Liverpool without permission;
• Pump.fun’s token is today ranked 99th global crypto by CoinGecko.

A trial between crypto, judiciary system, and digital morality

The Dunn case goes beyond a mere news story. It reflects the tension between crypto innovation and traditional judicial framework. The British judicial system, slow and clogged, let this case drag on for eight months. Dunn, shuffled between two prisons, navigated alone after his lawyers abandoned his defense, judging the retraction of his admission too risky.

The crime committed, as serious as it is, raises questions about admin key management, developer psychology, and platform responsibility. Dunn’s confession sparked as much ridicule as compassion. He recently still wrote: “If I get 3 years, it’s time served and I’ll be on the next flight to Canada. If I get 4 years, I’ll owe them another 3 months“.

His case could set a precedent on the judicial treatment of internal crypto crimes. Meanwhile, Pump.fun, now a Solana giant, attracts attention… and criticism. Because behind the rise, doubts persist.

Despite its meteoric growth, Pump.fun is not safe from storms. Between attacks from competitors like LetsBONK and a nearly 80% revenue drop, traders wonder about the platform’s future. The Dunn case, as spectacular as it is, may be only the first crack in a tottering edifice.