Howdy!

Blockworks’ Katherine Ross scooped EigenLayer layoffs to break up what has been a pretty slow crypto news week. Just a reminder that I’m always happy to take tips.

Today, we’ve got Gate’s pump token headfake, the ETF approval odds whipsaw, and a Solana-linked SPAC:

Gate publishes then removes pump.fun token sale page

The crypto exchange Gate briefly published a webpage yesterday showing that pump.fun’s reported forthcoming token would go on sale early Saturday morning. Within a few hours, the page had been taken down.

It’s the latest twist in a token rollout that has seen information come from just about anyone but pump.fun itself. Gate and pump.fun did not comment on the token sale webpage or whether the Saturday morning presale date was correct. The snafu went down as a BONK-themed launchpad commands impressive revenue figures compared to pump’s.

In early June, we first reported that pump.fun had plans to raise $1 billion at a $4 billion valuation via a token sale. Bloomberg confirmed the news, as did The Block — which also scooped that the platform plans to distribute revenue to token holders.

But in the month since, pump.fun has remained tight-lipped about the whole situation — no founder podcast circuit, no points program, no other pageantry that typically revolves around a token rollout. In talking to sources, I get the sense the specifics of pump.fun’s TGE plan is not very well known, even to relative insiders.

Gategate underscores what has always seemingly been pump.fun’s PR strategy: Don’t say anything unless you absolutely need to. The exchange and its founders rarely, if ever, get involved in the multiple controversies that have sprung up around the project — with the only exception to wit being when it disabled its livestreaming feature. 

So far, that strategy has worked out pretty well for consumer crypto’s revenue behemoth. Still, some believe a credible challenger to pump.fun’s dominance has finally emerged. Letsbonk.fun, a launchpad built with Raydium’s LaunchLab, has bested pump in revenue each of the past three days, taking 61% of Solana launchpad market share yesterday compared to pump.fun’s 19%, according to Blockworks Research data.

But I really wouldn’t bet on it. Pump.fun could just announce a token airdrop based on trading activity if it wanted to, and I bet the platform’s volume would spike right back up.

— Jack Kubinec

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Here’s an interesting perspective on how surprising REX-Osprey’s Solana ETF was:

The Polymarket odds of a Solana ETF being approved by July 31 stayed put for weeks before suddenly spiking at the end of June.

And to zoom out for a moment — while sometime this year has long felt like a sure bet for SOL ETF approval, I would probably have been a bit surprised to hear of a fund being approved with staking this early in 2025.

— Jack Kubinec

Crypto holding firm ReserveOne just announced a SPAC merger with M3-Brigade Acquisition V, setting the stage for a Nasdaq debut. It aims to raise over $1 billion.

The firm is backed by industry familiars like Kraken and Blockchain.com, and has a board stacked with heavyweights, including Tether's Reeve Collins and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

ReserveOne plans to hold a portfolio that includes Solana, BTC and ETH.

All of this is standard fare, but I thought it might be an interesting opportunity to discuss the method by which it will accomplish this listing.

SPACs have long been a sort of cheat code for crypto companies and other high-growth startups because they mean skipping the traditional IPO gauntlet: no multi-month roadshows, no scrutinizing S-1 filings dragging through SEC limbo and no unpredictable pricing day-of.

When the traditional IPO route feels too slow or too risky, hopefuls instead merge with a pre-existing publicly traded shell company, inherit its listing status and hammer out the deal terms with a small number of counterparties.

It's a strong move if you can afford it. This is also a different move from some new crypto treasury vehicles, many of which have opted for acquisitions or reverse mergers instead. 

Legal and banking fees alone can run into the tens of millions, not to mention the cost of securing PIPE financing or satisfying the equity demands of the shell company. It requires serious institutional backing and a narrative strong enough to survive public scrutiny.

Given that ReserveOne is (ostensibly) willing to burn that kind of capital just to get listed, it's safe to say that at least its investors believe that the crypto treasury management model is a narrative set to pay dividends.

— Jeffrey Albus

A message from baoskee, founder of daos.fun: