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Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov criticized Pump.fun as a “casino of scams called memecoins” and questioned the quality of some of Solana’s most visible applications.
Egorov also took aim at Phantom’s hardware-wallet experience, arguing it was worse than MetaMask despite Phantom becoming one of Solana’s dominant consumer gateways.
The criticism revives a broader debate over whether Solana’s explosive consumer activity is producing durable applications or primarily high-risk speculative trading.
Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov has taken aim at two of Solana’s most prominent consumer applications, criticizing <a href="https://www.ccn.com/news/<a href="https://cryptoz7.com/what-is-crypto-crypticstreet-why-crypto-crypticstreet-is-trending-again-in-2026/” title=”What Is Crypto CrypticStreet? Why Crypto CrypticStreet Is Trending Again in 2026″>crypto/pump-fun-token-project-ascend/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>memecoin launchpad Pump.fun and wallet provider Phantom while questioning the quality of the ecosystem’s flagship products.
In comments circulated by Wu Blockchain, Egorov described Pump.fun as a “casino of scams called memecoins” and argued that Phantom’s hardware-wallet experience was worse than MetaMask’s.
He acknowledged that Solana has been effective at supporting its ecosystem, but argued that the applications most commonly presented as its success stories were not particularly strong.
Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov criticized Pumpfun as “a casino of scams called memecoins”. |
The criticism puts a prominent Ethereum DeFi founder on the opposite side of one of crypto’s biggest growth stories: Solana’s ability to turn inexpensive transactions and consumer-friendly applications into enormous speculative activity.
Pump.fun’s Growth Comes With a High-Risk Trade-Off
Pump.fun dramatically lowered the barrier to launching tokens on Solana by allowing users to create instantly tradable memecoins without initially seeding a conventional liquidity pool. Tokens trade through a bonding curve before qualifying for broader liquidity.
Egorov’s “casino” criticism also lands against a mixed record for retail profitability.
CoinGecko research based on Dune data found that losing money was the norm for Pump.fun traders through much of 2024 and 2025. In June 2025, just 30.1% of active wallets with realized positions were profitable, meaning almost 70% ended the month in the red.
The picture improved considerably in 2026. Profitability reached 56.8% in February, 70% in March and 73.3% in April. However, most winning wallets earned relatively small amounts: roughly 65% of all active wallets made between $1 and $500 in April.
The figures also exclude unrealized losses from traders still holding collapsed tokens, an important limitation when assessing memecoin outcomes.
Pump.fun Data Shows How Few Tokens Develop Into Lasting Markets
Phantom itself warns users that Pump.fun tokens can launch without audits, formal teams or established liquidity, and may be abandoned or used maliciously.
