Pump.fun, a popular Solana memecoin launch tool, has been exploited for nearly $2 million by a former employee. The attacker, who had a privileged position, used a bonding curve attack to steal approximately 12,300 SOL tokens, worth $1.9 million. The platform temporarily paused trading but has since resumed operations, assuring users of full liquidity recovery.

The attacker used flash loans on Raydium to borrow SOL tokens, which were then used to buy pump.fun's meme coins. Once the coins reached 100% on their bonding curves, the exploiter accessed the bonding curve liquidity to repay the flash loans. The attack occurred between 3:21 pm and 5:00 pm UTC on May 16, and pump.fun has been working with law enforcement to identify the former employee involved.

The head of research at Wintermute, Igor Igamberdiev, suspects that the hack resulted from an internal private key leak. The attacker, who goes by the name "STACCoverflow" on social media, has been posting cryptic messages, claiming to be "fully doxxed" and ready to face the consequences.

Pump.fun has assured users that its smart contracts are still secure, and affected users will recover "100% of the liquidity" within the next 24 hours. This incident highlights the importance of internal security and the need for memecoin platforms to protect against insider threats. As the memecoin market continues to evolve, security measures must keep pace to prevent such exploits.