In a recent post on X, Jocy Lin, the co-founder of IOSG Ventures, issued a warning about the upcoming Pump.fun Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The IOSG partner described the ICO as a highly speculative gamble, suggesting it may be structured to provide exit liquidity for insiders rather than deliver value to public investors.
IOSG Ventures is a crypto fund and early-stage venture firm that invests in blockchain projects, particularly in the seed and Series A stages. Founded in 2017, its portfolio includes industry players such as Cosmos, Celestia, Eigenlayer, and Scroll. It claims to focus on long-term sustainability, active founder support, and community building.
Jocy Lin Criticizes Pump.fun’s Planned ICO
Notably, the planned sale, which allocates 15% to retail and 18% to institutional investors, aims to raise $1.32 billion. Lin criticized the tokenomics, warning that with the accumulated protocol revenues, the team would be able to control nearly $2 billion in liquid assets.
The IOSG co‑founder emphasised that the structure lacks transparency, and the vesting terms are unclear. He believes that such vagueness creates a potential opportunity for insiders to dump tokens immediately upon listing, leaving public investors exposed to losses.
He further expressed concern that in a down-cycle environment, bidding at a $4 billion valuation poses unsustainable expectations. The co‑founder stated that, having already amassed substantial wealth through fees, the team appears more interested in “value realisation (exit liquidity)” than long‑term growth.
Lin concluded by recommending a patient approach, suggesting that investors monitor token performance for at least a week post-listing and stagger their participation. He emphasized that any involvement should be made with capital that investors were prepared to lose.
Pump.fun Proceeds Amid Backlash
As reported by CTW, Pump.fun would launch its native token, PUMP, via an ICO starting July 12. The public sale, priced at $0.004 per token, offers 15% of the total 1 trillion–token supply. Participants can buy via token.pump.fun or partner exchanges like Bybit, Kraken, and Gate. Airdrops are also on the way as the tokenomics allocate 24% for community growth.
Imagine being a token launchpad and you don’t even launch your own token on it?
Imagine thinking that you have a fair launch platform yet you chose private investors and make token supply 1 trillion
— Foreign Buffett $WCM (49,-86) ᵍᵐ (@Foreign_buffett) July 9, 2025
Nonetheless, Pump.fun has recently come under fire from its own users, who accuse the team of bypassing its native launchpad in favor of partnering with external exchanges. Despite having a powerful inbuilt launchpad, the team has pivoted to launching its token on third-party platforms.
