Pump.fun's Livestream Feature Has Seemingly Turned Into a Platform for Developers to Broadcast Extreme Shock Content to Promote Their Tokens — and It May Result in Civil or Criminal Lawsuits

From suicide threats and animal abuse to pornography, developers pushing boundaries have faced little to no consequences beyond having their content removed.

Pump.fun’s livestream feature, which was initially intended to showcase new tokens, has spiraled into a platform for extreme shock content. Developers are pushing boundaries by broadcasting anything from suicide threats and animal abuse to pornography in a bid to promote their tokens.

However, despite the provocative acts, the developers have faced little to no consequences beyond having their content removed. This has prompted industry participants to call for regulatory action.

Pump.fun, a platform that enables users to launch Solana tokens with just a few clicks, has become a breeding ground for scam tokens and rug pulls. Now, it seems to be facing a new challenge with its livestream feature.

On Nov. 25, a quick glance at the first page of Pump.fun’s livestreaming board revealed several instances of pornographic and racially offensive content.

Cointelegraph observed numerous instances of animal abuse and violent content across a total of four pages, which appeared to have been eventually taken down.

Developers were seen threatening to hang themselves if their token didn’t reach a certain market cap, while another endangered a goldfish on camera. These extreme acts are being carried out in an attempt to promote their tokens and attract investors.

Mikko Ohtamaa, co-founder of algorithmic trading firm Trading Strategy, took to X to comment on the matter. He said that Pump.fun has two options: either get closed down quickly by police after opting for no moderation or eventually get shut down years later after regulators wrap their heads around it.

“I advocate for freedom of speech, but these streams are causing practical issues where people are breaking the law in live broadcasts. This will trigger a shutdown when the mainstream media catches a wind on this,” said Ohtamaa.

Alon admitted on X that Pump.fun’s moderation “isn’t perfect,” adding that an NSFW (not safe for work) toggle can be turned on to hide extreme videos.

In the United States, Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act provides a form of immunity to platforms hosting user-generated content. However, this immunity is contingent on the platform acting responsibly when moderating content.

If a platform fails to moderate content responsibly, especially if they knowingly allow harmful content, it can result in legal challenges. For instance, in Barnes v. Yahoo!, the court held that a platform’s promise to remove harmful content could create liability if not fulfilled.

Alon said that Pump.fun has a “large” team of moderators “working around the clock” while inviting community members to flag unmoderated content or tokens to its support channels.

On Nov. 25, the first page of Pump.fun’s livestreaming board displayed a number of pornographic and racially offensive content.

Across a total of four pages, Cointelegraph observed numerous instances of animal abuse and violent content, which appeared to have been eventually taken down.

Pump.fun is a memecoin haven, but most are accused of scamming users

The platform’s welcome note to visitors claims that it prevents rug pulls, but rugging Pump.fun-launched tokens is apparently not that difficult.

In a recent livestream, a teenager created a token and then allegedly dumped it on his investors to pocket $30,000 before flipping off the audience with the double middle fingers live on air.

Some pornographic livestreams are accused of playing recorded videos of adult content creators on other platforms, which are used as clickbait, only to rug investors.

According to Dune Analytics data, over 3.8 million tokens have been launched through Pump.fun since the platform went live in January.

These tokens have a low success rate, with an estimated 1.2% of tokens successfully reaching the $69,000 market cap required for listing on decentralized exchanges like Raydium.

This could be attributed to several factors, such as the oversaturation of tokens and poor marketing, but also scams and rug pulls.

“This is not a good look for the industry,” Mads Eberhardt, a senior crypto analyst at Steno Research, told Cointelegraph. “I believe there’s no stopping the snowball effect of growing institutional adoption, but the industry would be in a better place if this were not happening simultaneously.”

According to Digital and Analogue Partners’ Brisov, existing laws cover fraudulent behavior involving cryptocurrencies. In the case of Pump.fun, token creators could be liable for wire fraud, a form of white-collar crime that occurs over electronic means, including the internet.

Memecoins are still coins

“For reasons that are not understandable to me, entrepreneurs who deal with memecoins, they think that laws do not apply to them,” said Brisov.

“If you are wash trading, if you are rug pulling on Pump.fun, the same laws will apply to you, and the [United States] Department of Justice will come to you, and you will be prosecuted and put in jail for many years,” he