TL;DR

Pump.fun launched the $3M Pump Fund “Build in Public” hackathon to back 12 projects, requiring founders to keep at least 10% supply.
The 30-day sprint targets $250,000 per winner at a stated $10M valuation, tying selection to shipping, roadmaps, traction, and mentorship.
Activity has cooled: volume fell from $11.75B in Jan 2025 to $2.43B in Dec; PUMP is about 70% below September highs near $0.0026, and daily launches topped 30,000.

Pump.fun is pushing beyond rapid memecoin launches with a new $3M initiative called Pump Fund. The core message is that early-stage funding can be crowdsourced through transparent building and token market feedback. The program kicks off with a “Build in Public” hackathon that aims to back 12 projects. Instead of pitching to venture firms or judge panels, teams launch a token and let market participation help decide what rises. Builders must retain at least 10% of their token supply so founders keep meaningful exposure to upside.

Introducing the $3,000,000 Build in Public Hackathon

Brought to you by Pump Fund – pump fun’s New Investment Arm

It’s time to completely reimagine how early-stage projects are built and funded.

Learn more pic.twitter.com/l1TJcxv1J0

— Pump.fun (@Pumpfun) January 19, 2026

How the $3M Hackathon Works and What It Changes for Builders in Practice

The hackathon runs for 30 days and distributes $3M across 12 winners, effectively $250,000 per team at a stated $10M valuation. Teams are expected to ship quickly and share regular public updates so supporters can track execution in real time. In this format, price discovery and shipping velocity become the screening layer, not a private pitch deck. Pump.fun says it will weigh product delivery, roadmap communication, organic traction, and long-term viability, while offering direct mentorship from its founders for long-term alignment. It also says backed ventures do not need to be crypto-native.

The pivot lands as the platform’s core trading numbers have cooled. Monthly trading volume reportedly peaked at $11.75B in January 2025 and fell to $2.43B by December, underscoring waning appetite for speculative memecoins. Launching a builder fund looks like a portfolio diversification play to smooth activity through the cycle. PUMP has also struggled: since an all-time high in September, it is described as down roughly 70% to about $0.0026. Still, daily token launches recently topped 30,000 in a single day after creator incentives were updated. It says it raised over $1B within minutes when PUMP debuted.

Co-founder Alon Cohen says demand for strong founders remains high and argues tokenization enables projects to receive capital directly from users, with instant liquidity as the differentiator. If the market rewards real progress, Pump Fund could turn speculation into an accountable, repeatable startup funnel. The model still layers venture-style checks and mentorship on top of the market signal, and the 10% founder hold keeps teams exposed to both upside and downside. Pump.fun says it facilitated the launch of millions of tokens across 2024 and 2025 and generated hundreds of millions in fees.

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Filed under: News - @ January 20, 2026 4:23 pm