Ross Ulbricht Lost $12M on Pump.fun After Trying to Provide Liquidity for ROSS Tokens

Despite only receiving $600,000, he still retains 10% of the token supply.

Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has encountered a substantial financial setback in his recent attempt to sell off ROSS meme coins on Pump.fun. Despite aiming to cash out his holdings, Ulbricht's efforts ultimately resulted in a loss of over $12 million, leaving him with only $600,000 from the endeavor. However, Ulbricht still retains 10% of the total ROSS token supply.

According to blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence, Ulbricht, or someone with access to his wallet, attempted to sell off the ROSS meme coin, which led to a significant drop in its value and resulted in substantial financial losses.

ROSS ULBRICHT LOST $12M ON PUMPFUN…Ross Ulbricht, or someone with access to his wallets, just accidentally nuked the price of a pumpfun coin sent to him while trying to provide liquidity on Raydium.

Ulbricht's Solana donation address received 50% of the supply of ROSS from the developer last week.

"Ross tried to add single-sided liquidity to sell the coins off passively, but accidentally created a pool with Raydium CPMM (Constant-Product Market Maker) instead of CLMM (Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker)," Arkham Intelligence noted.

Ulbricht set the initial price for the ROSS liquidity pool on Pump.fun incorrectly, allowing an MEV bot to quickly buy and sell the tokens. While the first transaction involved only 5% of the total supply, Ulbricht later attempted to sell 35%, exacerbating the issue.

The Silk Road founder gained significant attention in the crypto world, partly due to his advocacy for Bitcoin and his prolonged imprisonment. Before his arrest, Bitcoin transactions on the Silk Road were pivotal in driving the sector's growth. Some may argue that many in the early crypto community became acquainted with digital currency through the platform, which played a key role in Bitcoin's early adoption.

After taking office, President Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by granting a pardon to Ulbricht. Following this, members of the community began donating funds to assist in Ulbricht's reintegration into society.

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken committed more than $111,000 in Bitcoin to Ulbricht, while an anonymous developer created the ROSS meme coin, transferring half of the total supply to him.

The incident highlights the vast evolution of the cryptocurrency space since Ulbricht's time of involvement, with advancements in DeFi and meme coins, among other aspects, marking a notable shift in the industry's technical landscape.

This occurrence also underscores the learning curve and challenges that can arise for even experienced figures in the crypto community as they navigate platforms like Pump.fun, emphasizing the continuous learning process involved in the crypto space.