Former Pump.fun employees say they were laid off just before their PUMP token grants vested, forfeiting allocations reportedly worth over $1M for at least one of them.

Staff were promised PUMP tokens that become theirs only after a set time on the job. Ex-employees claim the company let them go right before those tokens unlocked, leaving them with nothing, even as founders and investors released tens of millions in PUMP to themselves around the same time.

There were two layoff rounds, in April and mid-July, the second reportedly hitting about 40 people. The grants were agreed in mid-2025 with a one-year cliff, so the first tranche was due to vest around June 2026. These are unverified allegations from former staff, Pump.fun (run by Baton Corporation) has not publicly responded, and the $1M figure is one ex-employee's own estimate. PUMP is a live token, so treat this as a labor and optics story, not investment advice.