Memecoin Factory Pump.Fun Bans U.K. Crypto Traders

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Policy

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Earlier this week, the U.K.’s main financial regulator warned Pump.fun was operating without permission.

By Danny Nelson|Edited by Nick Baker

Updated Dec 6, 2024, 4:46 p.m. UTCPublished Dec 6, 2024, 4:18 p.m. UTC

Solana’s memecoin factory Pump.fun shut off access to U.K. crypto traders Friday, citing “laws and regulations” affecting the runaway hit.

The geoblock comes three days after the nation’s main financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, warned the platform “may be providing or promoting financial services or products without our permission.” One of Pump.fun’s founders confirmed a blockade had taken effect but declined to comment further.

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Since debuting earlier this year, Pump.fun has become the de facto launchpad for memecoins on the Solana blockchain. It spawned multibillion-dollar hits including PNUT and WIF. Along the way, it generated over $250 million for its founders, who developed the app in the U.K.

Memecoin traders immediately attempted to capitalize on the ban by creating joke cryptocurrencies that lampooned the news. None of the assets had taken off at press time.

Danny is CoinDesk’s managing editor for Data & Tokens. He formerly ran investigations for the Tufts Daily. At CoinDesk, his beats include (but are not limited to): federal policy, regulation, securities law, exchanges, the Solana ecosystem, smart money doing dumb things, dumb money doing smart things and tungsten cubes. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL tokens, as well as the LinksDAO NFT.