Suicide, Doge Pump, Child Abuse: The Escalating Chaos of Pump.Fun Livestream

In May of this year, Pump.fun first launched its live streaming feature, but did not gain the expected popularity. In November, the official team once again heavily promoted the feature, successfully sparking a "live streaming with memes" trend. However, in less than a week, Pump's live streaming gradually spiraled out of control. Due to inadequate content moderation on the platform, streamers resorted to various extreme behaviors to attract attention, even resorting to direct threats against others, putting this Solana ecosystem killer app at legal and regulatory risk.

From "Crypto TikTok" to "Crypto Dark Web"

If the token's market cap does not reach 1 million, he will shoot his own dog.

If the token's market cap does not reach 1 million, he will hang himself.

A young couple beats their 3-year-old child every 4 minutes until the token's market cap reaches a certain target.

A 12-year-old child claims he will use a hunting rifle to kill his entire family if the token's market cap doesn't reach the goal.

Nude live streaming, human-animal fights, locking oneself in a cage as a dog, and even extreme no-limits behaviors such as child abuse, animal abuse, Nazi imitation, have frequently appeared recently on Pump.Fun, triggering a wave of vulgar live streaming coin issuance frenzy. This has attracted industry observers and discussions, with some in the community joking that "this year, one of the two Killer Apps has already been investigated by the FBI, and the other is about to be investigated."

One community user also commented, "I'm not a legal expert on Section 230, but I have worked in Trust & Safety at social media platforms. This is exactly what dragged CEOs of Facebook, Twitch, TikTok, etc., before Congress and fined them billions of dollars."

Section 230 is Section 230 of the United States' Communications Decency Act, which was passed in 1996. It allows internet service providers (regardless of size) to moderate user speech and content in ways they see fit. It is considered a key law on internet content management and platform liability, shaping a crucial cornerstone of the modern internet.

Although there is no direct equivalent legal provision domestically, regulations such as the Cybersecurity Law have imposed stricter requirements on internet platform content moderation in China. For instance, domestic platforms are required to proactively take responsibility for content moderation when illegal or vulgar content is detected; otherwise, they may face heavy fines or service suspensions.

As the fastest-growing platform in this cycle and the most recognized for Product-Market Fit (PMF), Pump.Fun is currently facing the same dilemma as traditional internet platforms: chasing traffic or maintaining a bottom line.

Originated from an Ongoing Live Stream

In late May of this year, Pump.Fun launched its live streaming feature, which had been limited to a small circle of users and did not trigger a breakthrough effect.

It wasn't until last week when Pump.Fun's official team once again promoted the live streaming feature. In the early hours of November 22, a young unemployed individual in North America stated during a Pump.Fun live stream that he would only end the stream once the market capitalization of his token (LIVE) reached 100 million. This live stream was also selected by Pump's official team and featured on the homepage. After the on-chain value reached $100,000, the LIVE token experienced a surge. Influencers like gmony joined the real-time interaction online, ultimately driving the LIVE token's market cap above 20 million dollars.

Currently, this individual has been live streaming continuously for 89 hours. Meanwhile, the price of LIVE has fluctuated based on the individual's various actions in the live stream. For instance, when the individual went to the restroom, LIVE experienced a significant drop, causing viewers to think he was ending the stream. Simultaneously, he engaged with many influencers on Twitter and hosted Spaces, where many people provided suggestions and taught him how to attract attention.

Gradually, more and more similar live streaming mimics appeared on Pump.Fun, as mentioned earlier, depicting scenarios of market cap reaching certain milestones. To attract more attention, it's essential to fill the on-chain pool early to achieve a successful launch, ensuring that meme coin themes and live stream content are as eye-catching as possible.

In the live stream, the individual burned tokens, shaved his head, and engaged in various antics. Initially, when the community discussed what would happen if this individual died suddenly during the live stream, it was suggested that he would become a deity if LIVE hit a certain value.

When live streaming, a medium that maximizes the display of all emotions, is combined with a platform for asset issuance without any censorship, it results in so many absurd scenes, making it a suitable material for a "Black Mirror" episode.

Despite streaming continuously for over 80 hours (albeit with breaks for sleep, so it's not a true continuous stream), the market cap dropped back to 4 million. LIVE kept plummeting, and the community began to contemplate how this individual's story would end.

FBI! Open the door!

More and more people are calling for Pump.Fun to shut down its live streaming feature, while Pump.Fun's revenue hits an all-time high.

As a result, the existence of the previously vulgar live content has found legitimacy—earning money.

Someone in the Pump.Fun comments section is diverting traffic to engage in peripheral business, to which a certain ecosystem leader stated, "True mass adoption has already happened, and most adoption in this industry starts from the gray areas... VC Bros, no matter what you want to promote, you first need to align with human nature."

The so-called alignment with human nature is nothing more than some vulgar, sensational live streaming gimmicks, or even more extreme elements such as adult content trading, or even criminal activities, all being considered as the future of an industry. Will this industry still have a future?

The Blockbeats previously stated in an article titled "Pump.fun is becoming the "TikTok of the crypto world"" that Pump.Fun's attention economy might evolve into a "live streaming god disk." However, attention must also be paid to regulatory issues—how will platforms review extreme content? When a project creator posts some erotic or more extreme inappropriate behavior, should Pump.Fun intervene to prevent potential criminal activities.

Unfortunately, Pump.Fun has not done so in this regard.

If Pump.Fun continues to turn a blind eye to these chaotic situations, it will not only damage its own reputation but also have a negative impact on the entire crypto industry.

Platform control should not dissipate due to decentralization, and the attention economy is not an excuse to cross the line. Pump.Fun, from one-click token issuance to "live streaming with memes," was once a model of commercial innovation in the crypto space. However, the current vulgar live streaming loophole has been exposed. The followers who were utilized by Pump.Fun and had their values trampled upon will eventually become the abyss that devours Pump.Fun.