Wolf Popper, Burwick Law widens Pump.Fun lawsuit to include Solana Labs, Solana Foundation, and Jito

Two law firms Wolf Popper and Burwick Law have widened a lawsuit initially filed against Pump.Fun to add Solana Labs, Solana Foundation, and Jito. They have also named key figures from the Solana community, including co-founders Raj Gokal and Anatoly Yakovenko.

In a modified complaint from Wednesday, the firms allege violations of the RICO Act by Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. They also name Dan Albert, Lily Liu, and Austin Federa from the Solana Foundation.

The RICO claims include allegations of illegal gambling, wire fraud, intellectual property theft, and unlicensed money transmission. They also cover securities claims and alleged breaches of New York General Business Law sections 349 and 350.

The case also takes aim at leadership at Jito. The amended complaint names COO of Jito Brian Smith and the CEO, Lucas Bruder, as defendants. It does not stop there. The filing adds Pump.Fun’s own founders, Dylan Kerler, Noah Bernhard, Hugo Tweedale, and Alon Cohen to the list of defendants.

“The claims against defendants in this matter include RICO claims (predicated on illegal gambling, wire fraud, intellectual property theft, and unlicensed money transmission), Securities claims, and NY GBL 349 & 350 claims,” Burwick Law said in an X post.

This evening, we filed an amended complaint on behalf of plaintiffs alleging RICO claims against Pumpdotfun, Solana, Jito, and their respective officers in Aguilar v. Baton Corp. pic.twitter.com/QcJWpQtBwY

— Burwick Law (@BurwickLaw) July 23, 2025

“At every level—from token design to fee extraction, to infrastructure maintenance and validator orchestration—Solana Labs and Jito Labs were knowing, intentional participants in the conduct at issue,” the plaintiffs wrote. “They are not bystanders to fraud. They are its architects, beneficiaries, and co-conspirators.”

RICO refers to a US law passed to fight organized crime

RICO refers to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It’s a U.S. law that was passed in the 70s to fight organized crime. The law lets prosecutors bundle different illegal acts into one case.

The filing says Pump.Fun clearly breached financial crime laws in the US. It points to Section 311 of the Bank Secrecy Act, USA Patriot Act, FinCEN rules, the state licensing rules for money transmitters, and OFAC sanctions.

“By refusing to verify user identities, failing to monitor or report suspicious transactions, and neglecting any formal AML program, Pump.Fun exposes the public to severe risks of criminal exploitation—facilitating money laundering, terrorist financing, sex trafficking, and other serious crimes,” the plaintiffs wrote.

The lawyers say that gap let North Korea’s Lazarus Group launder the funds that it had stolen in the $1.5 billion Bybit hack via the “QinShihuang” memecoin launched on the platform.

Pump.Fun is accused of knowingly promoting exploitative coins

They also accuse Pump.Fun of deliberately creating and promoting “tokens that exploit hate speech, violence, and exploitation to generate attention and trading volume” and of violating trademarks.

Earlier in June, Judge Colleen consolidated a separate class action against Pump.Fun that was brought by PNUT memecoin’s investors. Those lead plaintiffs are Kendall Carnahan, Michael Okafor, and Diego Aguilar.

The complaint reads, “This action is brought by, and on behalf of, victims of a coordinated racketeering enterprise designed to simulate the functions of a digital casino operated illegally under the guise of meme coin creation and trading.” 

It continues, “In truth, Pump.Fun is merely the front‑facing slot machine cabinet, operated as part of a broader illegal gambling and money transmission scheme engineered and maintained jointly by” Pump.Fun, Jito, and Solana leadership.

The lawsuit mentions that Pump.Fun’s revenue stands at $722.85 million from its “illegal gambling enterprise” via what it calls the bonding curve. It also claims Jito Labs “monitored the spins and intercepted profitable transactions, and sent them to whoever bribed them the most.”

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