<h2 id="crypto-news">Crypto News</h2>
Meme coin launchpad Pump.fun has announced the launch of Pump Fund, a new investment arm backing promising startups, marking its first major expansion beyond <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/memecoin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">memecoin</a>-focused operations. The platform will kick off with a $3 million hackathon, funding 12 projects with $250,000 each at a $10 million valuation.
Pump.fun <a href="https://x.com/Pumpfun/status/2013386533626163589" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> on Monday that the investment arm would align itself with projects long-term, noting they do not need to be crypto-related. The fund will provide mentorship from Pump.fun founders to selected projects.
Pump.fun said its new investment arm would fund projects of all maturities, verticals, and traction, focusing on teams that ship quickly and openly communicate their plans. The announcement comes as the platform expands its focus to include early-stage project funding.
The hackathon lasts 30 days, during which participants create a token, share updates on their project, and let the market judge whether the project succeeds. Instead of pleasing judges or venture capitalists for money, tokenizing allows the market to become the judge, Pump.fun explained. Users fund projects by betting on them early.
Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen <a href="https://x.com/a1lon9/status/2013387597100282149" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> the numerous trends in crypto over the past three years show that demand for good founders by traders and long-term allocators has remained incredibly high, regardless of market conditions. He added that, soon after Pump.fun launched, projects began launching tokens because users loved buying into fresh ideas they thought had a chance of becoming successful.
Millions of people could become potential users and investors, Cohen noted. Instant liquidity meant that projects could get funded quickly, which eventually led to artificial intelligence projects springing up in crypto.
The platform's monthly trading volume reached $11.75 billion in January 2025, just a year after launch. The new investment initiative represents Pump.fun's strategy to support projects beyond the initial token launch phase.

Pump.fun Launches Investment Arm With $3M Hackathon

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