Pump.fun and Solana RICO Lawsuit: Aguilar v. Baton Corporation

A second amended consolidated class action complaint was filed on January 7, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, captioned Aguilar v. Baton Corporation Ltd, Case No. 1:25-cv-00880-CM, on behalf of investors who purchased memecoin tokens launched on the Pump.fun platform. The defendants are Baton Corporation Ltd (doing business as Pump.fun) and its co-founders Alon Cohen, Dylan Kerler, and Noah Tweedale, along with Solana Labs Inc., the Solana Foundation, and individual Solana executives Anatoly Yakovenko, Raj Gokal, Dan Albert, Austin Federa, and Lily Liu. The complaint also names 25 anonymous Key Opinion Leader (KOL) defendants.

The complaint alleges that the defendants operated what it describes as the “Solana-Pump.Fun Racketeering Enterprise,” a coordinated scheme to run a rigged memecoin marketplace while representing it to the public as a fair and decentralized platform. According to the complaint, Pump.fun marketed itself as the solution to insider manipulation in crypto markets, promising “fair launches” and equal access. In practice, the complaint alleges, the enterprise controlled every material aspect of token launches through three interlocking mechanisms: insiders accumulated token supply before any public promotion, coordinated KOL promoters manufactured the appearance of organic demand, and insiders executed timed exits into the retail buying that their own campaigns generated. The complaint uses the COPE token launch as a detailed case study of this alleged playbook.

The complaint alleges that aggregate retail losses on Pump.fun and related post-graduation trading totaled between $4 billion and $5.5 billion. According to the complaint, over 4.25 million unique wallets traded through the platform between January and December 2024, with more than 60% ending in net losses. Pump.fun collected a 1% fee on every transaction, while Solana collected network fees on every on-chain transfer and benefited from SOL price appreciation driven by the transaction volume. The complaint alleges that Solana Labs and the Solana Foundation were not passive infrastructure providers but active participants in the enterprise, shifting development priorities to meet Pump.fun’s needs, coordinating with Pump.fun leadership, and sharing in the profits. Named plaintiffs include Michael Okafor, who alleges losses of approximately $242,076 from tokens including the GRIFFAIN token, Diego Aguilar, who purchased the FWOG and GRIFFAIN tokens, and Kendall Carnahan, who purchased the PNUT token.

The complaint asserts claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) and (d), for violations of Section 12(a)(1) and Section 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, and for unjust enrichment. The complaint seeks compensatory and treble damages, disgorgement and restitution, a constructive trust, the appointment of a federal equity receiver over Pump.fun and Solana Labs, injunctive relief including corrective disclosures, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

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