X Bans Pump.fun and Co-Founder in Crypto Sweep Social media platform X banned the accounts of Pump.fun, a well-known memecoin platform, and co-founder Alon Cohen. The move is one of a wider sweep against more than 20 crypto-related accounts. Both Pump.fun’s main account and Cohen’s personal X account were labeled as suspended on Monday. X did not specify the bans, simply responding with its default message: “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.” Dozens of Crypto Accounts Targeted At least 19 other accounts were similarly suspended, such as those belonging to GMGN, BullX, Bloom Trading, and AI-based trading platform Eliza OS. A compilation created by X user “Otto” indicated the scope of bans, which was unexpected to the crypto market. X has long been a favorite platform for crypto platforms to engage with users, and the suspensions can impact business and marketing operations for the concerned platforms. GMGN Appeals Suspension GMGN on Telegram announced that it is “actively appealing the decision” and working closely with X to resolve the issue. The firm said it remains hopeful to recover its presence on the platform. API Violation Speculated as Cause Users are guessing that the suspensions are a result of third-party API usage. X prohibited third-party APIs in January 2023, offering its own for $60,000 and more annually—outside of most startups’ price range. One hypothesis is that the suspended platforms tried to get around the fees, though X has not officially stated if they do or don’t think this happened. Pump.fun’s Troubled History Pump.fun, whose convenience in designing memecoins has brought it no stranger to controversy for facilitating pump-and-dump schemes, was sued by a class-action suit in January for allegedly helping issue unregistered securities and reaping nearly $500 million in fees. Braden, one of the X users connected with Pump.fun’s marketing, speculated that the ban was “probably the mass reporting bs,” lessening the impact of the ban. Uncertainty Remains Neither X nor Pump.fun has made a statement as of publication. Since many of the crypto businesses count on X to communicate with their communities, the transparency around these suspensions is troubling in relation to future trends on enforcement for the platform.
