A recent report has potentially linked one of the co-founders of the memecoin launchpad Pump.fun with various crypto scams when he was a teen. The investigation revealed an individual with the same name as the Solana platform’s co-founder allegedly rug-pulled investors in 2017, taking tens of thousands of dollars before disappearing.
Pump.Fun Co-Founder Accused Of Scamming Investors
On Tuesday, news media outlet WIRED reported that Dylan Kerler, one of Pump.fun’s co-founders could be linked to a series of scams involving Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) when he was around 16. The report alleges that eight years ago, an individual with the same name was “making a small fortune hawking—then dumping—home-baked coins.”
According to the investigation, someone using the name Dylan Kerler launched eight cryptocurrencies in 2017, with two of those tokens, eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash, allegedly being rug pulled after gaining traction. Seemingly, the tokens were launched at the “height of the ICO boom,” with the developer promoting the most popular of the two, EthereumCash, in early October 2017.
The developer minted the token on Ethereum, created a website, and marketed the cryptocurrency on online platforms like BitcoinTalk, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram. Additionally, he airdropped part of the token’s supply and promised to publish a whitepaper, effectively creating interest from hundreds of investors.
By October 19, EthereumCash had reportedly risen to a $1.3 million valuation. At the same time, the developer was sending hundreds of tokens to multiple addresses under his control, selling large amounts through peer-to-peer exchanges.
The sell-off seemingly led to an 87.9% price drop for the cryptocurrency, spreading panic among investors. Moreover, the developer disappeared from the BitcoinTalk thread and the Telegram group.
WIRED identified around 20 wallets used by the developer to issue, airdrop, or sell eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash, or to transfer the revenue through a centralized exchange (CEX).
Meanwhile, an analysis conducted by security firm Certik revealed that the developer of these tokens earned around $75,000, now worth around $400,000, in crypto at the time.
The firm’s Chief Security Officer, Tielei Wang, explained that “After waiting for the market share and price to rise, they quickly cashed out and exited.” Based on this, the firm “strongly suspects” that the developer used EthereumCash to rug pull investors.
Alleged Links Between Kerler And The Scams
Pump.fun was launched in January 2024 to facilitate and simplify the deployment of tokens. The Solana-based platform quickly became one of the leading memecoin launchpads in the crypto market, fueling this cycle’s memecoin frenzy.
The investigation noted that of the three Pump.fun co-founders, Kerler has the least digital footprint. However, WIRED alleges that “digital breadcrumbs deposited across GitHub, YouTube, LinkedIn, Medium, and other corners of the web tie the name to the alleged eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash rug pulls.”
Reportedly, eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash were first marketed on BitcoinTalk by two accounts, DOMAINBROKER and ninjagod, belonging to the same individual. These accounts shared several details linking Pump.fun’s co-founder’s name with the project, including a “personal email” and referring to “Dylan Kerler” as the token’s developer.
The report also alleges that the Pump.fun founder and the eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash developer were located in Brighton, England, based on old Telegram group messages and electoral records reviewed by the news media outlet.
Meanwhile, corporate filings also show that a Pump.Fun entity was previously registered to a Brighton and Hove property found on the electoral records. The address is reportedly shared with two other companies, which list 62-year-old Kee Fatt Phoon as a director. The investigation also alleges that Dylan Kerler used the name Dylan Phoon, with several links on different online platforms.
Until recently, an account on development platform GitHub that uses Kerler’s outdoteth alias contained an old code repository that included a contact Gmail address for Dylan Phoon. The profile picture for the Gmail account is used across a Medium profile with the username DylanKerler1, as well as LinkedIn and YouTube accounts under Dylan Phoon.
As of this writing, neither Pump.fun nor Kerler has addressed the allegations.
Solana trades at $151 in the one-week chart. Source: SOLUSDT on TradingView
