Project Kimchi crashes over 98% after deleted promo and severed Pump.fun partnership
Solana memecoin Project Kimchi plummeted from a $15 million market cap after trader Kimchi deleted a promotional QR code and Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen removed his repost.
Crypto trader Kimchi, whose real name is Clayton Kim, shared an image containing a QR code linked to a new Solana memecoin called Project Kimchi. Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen quickly reposted the tweet, propelling the token's market cap to approximately $14 million to $15 million within minutes.[1][3][5]
The rally reversed rapidly when Cohen unshared the post and Kimchi deleted the original promo. Kimchi then scrubbed Pump.fun from his X bio and removed posts promoting their collaboration. Following the deletions, Project Kimchi crashed by roughly 97% to 99% within five minutes to below $500,000, eventually dropping to roughly $277,000 according to GMGN data reported by Wu Blockchain, and later sitting around $183,000, according to Protos.[1][2][3][5]
The crash sparked widespread speculation about whether Kimchi's account had been hacked. However, trader Fabiano noted that Cohen posted no hack warnings after deleting the reshare. Neither Kimchi nor Cohen had publicly explained the incident 24 hours later, according to Market Insider.[3][4]
Kimchi had recently partnered with Pump.fun to promote the platform's 'Pill Your Friends' campaign. On-chain analysis account Lookonchain noted that over the two days around Kimchi removing Pump.fun from his bio, the platform's daily revenue fell 16% from $1.61 million to $1.35 million, and daily active addresses decreased 11% to 159,492. Lookonchain also reported Kimchi may have received 1.35 billion PUMP tokens, valued at $6.25 million, in marketing fees.[3][6]
Key facts
- Kimchi (@kimchi1x) posted a QR code on X promoting the Solana memecoin Project Kimchi.
- Project Kimchi's market cap surged to between $14 million and $15 million after Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen reposted it.
- The token crashed more than 97% within five minutes after Cohen unshared the post and Kimchi deleted the promotional tweet.
- Kimchi removed Pump.fun from his X bio and deleted posts associated with the partnership.
- A suspected hack of Kimchi's account remains unconfirmed, and neither Kimchi nor Cohen provided a public explanation 24 hours after the incident.
- Pump.fun daily revenue dropped 16% to $1.35 million and active addresses fell 11% to 159,492 over the two days surrounding the bio change, per Lookonchain.
- Lookonchain reported Kimchi may have received 1.35 billion PUMP tokens worth $6.25 million in marketing fees.
Sources · 6 sources
- WB
Wu Blockchain@WuBlockchainPost on X ·
Kimchi Token’s Market Cap Plunges Over 98% to $277K After Pumpfun Co-Founder Removes Repost Crypto trader Kimchi posted a promotional image this morning with a QR code linking to a new memecoin, Project Kimchi. After Pumpfun co-founder Alon reposted it, the token’s market cap briefly reached approximately $15M. Alon subsequently removed his repost, while Kimchi deleted the original post and removed “pumpfun” from his bio. The token’s price then fell sharply. Alon had previously described Kimchi as the first trader to truly bridge crypto and pop culture. Neither has publicly explained the deleted post or removed repost. According to GMGN, the token’s market cap is now approximately $277K, down over 98% from its peak, with around $9.3M in 24-hour trading volume.
Open source - SO
SolanaFloor@SolanaFloorPost on X ·
🚨JUST IN: @kimchi1x shared a new $KIMCHI token through a QR code in a tweet. Its market cap surged to $14M within minutes, then fell 99% in 5 minutes after the tweet was deleted. A suspected account hack remains unconfirmed. https://t.co/IkOxOPOJAd
Open source - PR
ProtosArticle ·
Pump Fun’s Kimchi partnership has turned into chaos A crossover token launch between prominent crypto trader Kimchi and memecoin platform Pump Fun has descended into chaos after users were left wondering whether or not Kimchi had been hacked. Pump Fun and Kimchi, real name Clayton Kim, have been working together to promote Pump Fun’s “Pill Your Friends” campaign. The platform’s co-founder Alon Cohen described Kim as “the first ever example of a trader becoming a celebrity,” while Pump Fun tried enticing users to become “the next Kimchi” by using their platform. pic.twitter.com/ImGTCovV5p — Pump.fun (@Pumpfun) October 20, 2026 Pump Fun’s post was community-noted to point out that his linked wallets are associated with sniping tokens. Read more: Pump Fun and Kraken delete Hunter Biden $LAPTOP promotion Kimchi’s X account shared rugpull Things turned sour yesterday when Kimchi’s X account shared a new token in the form of a QR code. The Project Kimchi token reached a market cap of $14 million before plummeting to roughly $600,000 within minutes. It currently sits at just $183,000. During this time, Cohen had reshared — and quickly unshared — the post. Kimchi’s X account then began deleting Pump Fun-related posts and removed the platform from his bio. The price action of Project Kimchi linked in the QR code. Read more: Pump Fun paid $700K to callers shilling mostly tiny tokens Prior to this, there were already various Kimchi-themed tokens. The fiasco led many users to suspect that Kimchi was hacked. Some suspect Kimchi is behind it Some users believe the post may have been intentional, and that the token’s disastrous launch was, at best, a bad case of mismanagement. Crypto trader Fabiano highlighted that Cohen didn’t share any hack warnings after unsharing the post. He also suggested that Cohen resharing the post would have involved minute-by-minute planning, and that Kimchi’s deletion of his Pump Fun posts doesn’t make sense if the two had a partnership deal. Kimchi’s alleged $40M TRUMP trade debunked In its promotion, Pump Fun also reiterated an unverified claim that Kimchi had made over $40 million trading TRUMP. However, crypto analyst Bubblemaps reports that his publicly verifiable profits are closer to $6 million. There is a possibility of an unrevealed addresses, but Bubblemaps notes “he likely would have revealed it by now.” Kimchi rarely posts online, but when he does, it’s often in the form of lavish displays of wealth. Kimchi’s YouTube channel only displays one vlog at the time of writing. It was posted two days ago and features a Pump Fun promo in a private jet. Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks . For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X , Bluesky , and Google News , or subscribe to our YouTube channel . The post Pump Fun’s Kimchi partnership has turned into chaos appeared first on Protos .
Open source - MI
Market Insider@MrketInsiderPost on X ·
JUST IN: 24 HOURS LATER AND NO WORD FROM KIMCHI OR ALON KIMCHI CLEARED ANY MENTION OF PUMPFUN FROM HIS X THE COIN HE POSTED THEN DELETED, ‘PROJECT KIMCHI’ IS DOWN 99.9% FROM HIGHS https://t.co/iXx6dEYJrb
Open source - SO
SolanaFloor@SolanaFloorPost on X ·
🚨NEWS: Another Memecoin Crashes 97% in Just 5 Minutes After Hitting a $14M Market Cap @kimchi1x posted a “Project $Kimchi” QR code on X linking to a new Solana token that surged to a $15M market cap before crashing to below $500K within 5 minutes. @Pumpfun co-founder @a1lon9, who had publicly endorsed Kimchi, also deleted his repost, while Kimchi removed PumpFun from his X bio and deleted posts related to their collaboration.
Open source - LO
Lookonchain@lookonchainPost on X ·
Just 2 days later, @kimchi1x removed @Pumpfun from his bio. Interestingly, over those 2 days, Pumpfun's revenue dropped 16% from $1.61M to $1.35M, while active addresses fell 11% from 178,539 to 159,492. Meanwhile, @kimchi1x may have received 1.35B $PUMP ($6.25M) in marketing fees. https://t.co/Yp8qifjt9d
Open source - DN
DEGEN NEWS@DegenerateNewsPost on X ·
NEW: KIMCHI REMOVES @Pumpfun FROM X BIO https://t.co/tUQXDaJzUR
Open source