From Forehead Tattoos to Chugging Liquor, Criticism Mounts Over Pump.fun Reward System

Pump.fun’s new rewards service is drawing criticism as users take on increasingly extreme missions to promote their meme coins.

CoinDesk reported on June 9 that a Pump.fun user known as Arivu recently took part in the platform’s reward program, Pump.fun GO, and posted a video showing a specific token name tattooed on his forehead. The phrase was later issued and traded as a Solana-based meme coin, drawing attention online.

Pump.fun GO is a service that rewards users for completing assigned tasks. The company describes it as a platform where anyone can request or perform jobs.

The backlash has grown as some users post provocative missions to grab attention. Tasks reviewed by CoinDesk included filming a video of someone drinking a bottle of liquor, shaving their head and interviewing a homeless person.

Critics say the structure, combined with the speculative nature of the meme-coin market, could encourage increasingly excessive behavior. People who issue or trade related tokens may make more money than the participants who actually carry out the missions.

Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, criticized the trend in a post, writing that the crypto industry has become one that forces poor people into humiliating behavior.

Pump.fun has faced similar controversy before over the spread of provocative content through its live-streaming feature.