Former Pump.fun Employee Pleads Guilty, Awaits Sentencing for $2 Million Solana Theft – Decrypt

Jarett Dunn, a former Pump.fun senior developer, has signed a document affirming his guilt on charges related to draining an estimated $2 million worth of Solana (SOL) from the prominent token launchpad. The formal admission of guilt was made from behind bars in London, after he was imprisoned for breaking bail conditions.

The latest twist in the saga comes as Pump.fun has reasserted its dominance over rival token launchpads that recently stole market share. On Wednesday, it accounted for 77% of Solana tokens created via launchpads, per Dune, and generated more than $2.28 million in revenue—a five-month high.

Almost exactly a year ago, the Canadian national had pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position, as well as transfer of criminal property. But during an October hearing, scheduled to be his sentencing, Dunn had a change of heart and stated his intention to withdraw his guilty plea. His legal team quit the case, telling Dunn that pleading innocent was a bad idea.

Dunn then awaited a hearing to formally vacate his guilty plea for almost eight months, which was repeatedly adjourned due to a lack of court capacity, while he was living out of London hotels on bail.

In early June, Dunn told Decrypt that he had impulsively moved to Liverpool because it was quieter than the capital. But this move broke his bail conditions, and he was eventually put into HMP Liverpool, before being moved to HMP Pentonville, London.

While locked up, Dunn decided to stick with his initial guilty plea—and signed a document confirming so within the past couple of weeks, as confirmed to Decrypt by his new legal team. He now awaits sentencing, which, according to a post on X made by a friend managing his account, could take place within the next two weeks. His legal team could not confirm a date.

During Dunn’s first hearing in August 2024, in which he pleaded guilty, the judge explained that the case would likely be seen as a category 1A offense, due to the severity of the case. If categorized as such, the Canadian citizen’s sentence would start at seven years. One factor in the case’s categorization is the damage caused to the victim, Pump.fun.

While Dunn drained an estimated $2 million from the platform, the court heard last year that the consequential losses potentially ran as high as £10 million, or $12.8 million. How this figure was determined was not discussed at the time.

Decrypt has since discovered that this figure accounts for capital spent to preserve the reputation of Pump.fun, as well as lost revenue due to the platform halting trading for approximately nine hours and temporarily cutting trading fees as a goodwill gesture to impacted users—totaling approximately $10 million.

On top of this, Dunn sent all of the stolen funds to random wallet addresses, which means he was unable to immediately return what was taken, nor could Pump.fun recover it. In doing this, he amassed a cult-like following that paraded him as the Robin Hood of crypto.

The prosecution could pursue Dunn to pay back the funds lost as a result of the crime via a Proceeds of Crime Act or POCA application, UK solicitor at law firm Gunnercooke, Neil Williams, told Decrypt.

However, some mitigating circumstances may reduce Dunn’s sentencing.

One factor is his diagnosis of schizoaffective bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and ADHD. At the time of the crime, the developer hadn’t been taking any medication for three months—and when arrested, it was determined that he was unfit to face a police interview. Dunn was then hospitalized for two weeks under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, to improve his mental health.

Dunn also has a history of substance abuse, for which he was regularly attending recovery meetings to battle.

In last year’s hearing, where Dunn pleaded guilty, the judge said that improving his mental health may act as a mitigating circumstance. Following the hearing, when asked by Decrypt if he thought the crime was a result of a mental episode, Dunn replied, “My whole life has been a mental episode, so it’s hard to tell.”

Since Dunn’s explosive departure from the company in May 2024, Pump.fun has erupted into one of the biggest projects in crypto.

At the time of the attack, the token launchpad was popular but still in its infancy, with a lifetime revenue of $43.9 million. Its revenue has since skyrocketed to $791 million, according to Dune data, as it became a cultural hub for tokenizing memes and viral trends.

Pump.fun has spawned the likes of Fartcoin, Moo Deng, and Chill Guy, as well as countless controversial tokens. More recently, it has started to foster a community of streamers, as the platform says it is attempting to topple industry giants like TikTok and Twitch.

It has also launched its own token, which has surged 27% over the past two weeks to a $1.27 billion market capitalization—although it remains down 47% from its all-time high. Still, according to CoinGecko, PUMP is the 99th largest cryptocurrency in the world.

Meanwhile, Dunn sits in his cell, awaiting a date to be sentenced.