Judge Greenlights RICO Expansion in Pump.fun Case as 5,000 Leaked Chats Expose Solana Insiders
A federal judge permits a RICO lawsuit expansion against Pump.fun and Solana Labs after a whistleblower leaks 5,000 chat logs alleging coordinated market manipulation.
The Receipt
A federal judge in the Southern District of New York has granted plaintiffs permission to file a Second Amended Complaint in the class-action lawsuit against Pump.fun, Solana Labs, and affiliated entities. The ruling, filed December 9, follows the emergence of a confidential informant armed with nearly 5,000 internal chat logs. These records allegedly detail direct coordination between Solana Labs engineers and Pump.fun executives regarding transaction ordering and validator mechanics. evidence plaintiffs claim transforms the case from simple negligence into a RICO enterprise.
The Mechanics
The new evidence reportedly exposes the “engine room” of the alleged scheme. According to the filing, the leaked logs show Solana Labs personnel advising Pump.fun on “validator/priority inclusion pathways” and launch-flow mechanics to front-run retail liquidity. This isn’t just about bad code; it’s about structural asymmetry. The plaintiffs argue this coordination allowed insiders to buy tokens before bonding curves inflated prices, effectively rigging the casino before the doors opened.
The RICO allegations open the door to treble damages. With estimated losses of USD 5.5 billion, potential claims could now reach USD 16.5 billion.
Market Reaction
Capital is already rotating. While Solana (SOL) hovered around $127 (-1.7%), the BONK.fun ecosystem saw its market cap nearly double to $241 million in 24 hours as traders hedged against Pump.fun’s legal toxicity. Jito (JTO), whose infrastructure is also implicated in the new evidence, traded softly at $0.47 (-1.2%).
Institutional Context
This ruling is a piercing the veil moment for permissionless infrastructure. By allowing claims against infrastructure providers like Solana Labs and Jito for how their systems order transactions, the court is signaling that “neutral code” may no longer be a valid defense against RICO charges when devs actively optimize for predatory extraction. If the plaintiffs prove intent via these 5,000 logs, the liability blast radius extends to every sequencer and validator running custom ordering logic.
