By Joel Khalili,

Wired Compiled by BlockBeats

Image Source: WIRED Editorial Department/Getty Images

Editor's note: After the high-profile Pump.fun platform coin PUMP went live on July 15, it once rose to around $0.007, then began a one-sided decline. The public sale price of $0.004 did not effectively stop the decline. PUMP fell below $0.003 today, hurting investors' confidence in PUMP. Although US users are prohibited from participating in the PUMP public sale, it does not affect US meme players who also lost money in meme transactions. Burwick Law, a well-known law firm that has initiated several meme coin investment lawsuits, announced yesterday that it will expand the scope of litigation against the Pump platform to include the Solana Foundation, Solana Labs, and Jito on the list of defendants. Furthermore, the “average age” of the Pump.fun team has also become a hot topic of discussion in the crypto community. According to an earlier report in the New York Times, Pump.fun is headquartered in London, England, and is led by three entrepreneurs in their early 20s: Noah Tweedale, Alon Cohen, and Dylan Kerler. The three are registered physical companies, Baton Corporation, with Noah Tweedale as CEO, and all three are company directors. They met in Oxford, England, and have years of experience trading meme coins such as Dogecoin. This is an April article for “Connected WIRED”, or it helps readers understand the Pump.fun platform and the people behind it.

Pump.fun, the world's largest Memecoin factory, allows anyone to create their own cryptocurrency. However, a few years before the platform launched, a person with the same name as co-founder Dylan Kerler had already made a small fortune by issuing and

selling self-created tokens.

According to a WIRED survey, an individual named Dylan Kerler issued eight tokens in 2017. At the time, Pump.fun's co-founder Dylan Kerler was only 16 years old. Two of these tokens — eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash —

received attention on crypto forums, then their prices plummeted, and investors accused the developers of carrying out a Rug Pull.

According to an analysis by blockchain security company CertiK, the developer using the Dylan Kerler name made up to $75,000 in cryptocurrencies in 2017 from the sale of eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash alone — this portion of the assets may be worth as much as $400,000 at today's currency prices.

“After waiting for market share and price to rise, they quickly cashed out and left the market.” CertiK Chief Security Officer Wang Tielei said, “We

strongly doubt that EthereumCash is a tool designed by developers for Rug Pull.”

The reason Pump.fun exists, according to its co-founder, is to protect investors from unscrupulous actors through standardized token issuance methods. However, there is evidence that Dylan Kerler was the kind of developer the

platform was trying to prevent in the early days.

As of press time, neither Pump.fun nor Dylan Kerler had responded to multiple requests for comment.

The rise and mystery of Pump.fun, Pump.fun was founded in January 2024 by three early twentysomething entrepreneurs

Noah Tweedale, Alon Cohen, and Dylan Kerler. The platform quickly became

Memecoin's preferred incubation and trading venue.

These cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and are mainly speculative. According to third-party statistics, in just 15 months, Pump.fun has generated over $600 million

in revenue through 1% trading commissions.

The three co-founders rarely disclose their identity, location, or company structure. In an interview with WIRED last year, Tweedale said that this anonymity was due to “personal safety” considerations to prevent extortion or attacks on

the huge crypto assets managed by Pump.fun.

Of the three, public information about Kerler is the scarcest. Other than his being listed as a director in the UK Companies Registry's Companies House documents, he has almost no public association with Pump.fun. Tweedale told WIRED that Kerler is responsible for leading the development team to iterate the platform's code and functionality. With the exception of an X (originally Twitter) account called @outdoteth, Kerler has almost zero footprint on the internet.

However, a series of “digital clues” left in web corners such as GitHub, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Medium still link the name to the suspected rug pull operation of eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash.

Digital footprint: tracing back to early token promotion In
2017, the two tokens eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash were initially promoted

by two accounts on the crypto forum BitcoinTalk: DOMAINBROKER and ninjagod, both of which belong to the same user. According to a forum message, after the DOMAINBROKER account was “suspected

to have been hacked,” the user began using his ninjagod identity to communicate with investors.

In a forum post promoting eBitcoinCash, DOMAINBROKER provided a An email address containing Dylan Kerler's name is called a “personal email”; in another EthereumCash thread started by ninjagod, many forum users directly referred to Dylan Kerler as

the developer of the project.

Meanwhile, there are several clues that Dylan Kerler, co-founder of Pump.fun, was in the same region as the developers of eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash — the latter said in an old Telegram group that he was based in Brighton, England.

According to voter registration records reviewed by WIRED, Kerler is still registered at an address in the Britton-Hove region of England until at least 2024. When the reporter visited the address on April 15, a resident who responded via walkie-talkie declined to reveal his identity, but said Kerler “no longer lives here,” which confirmed

the accuracy of voter registration from the side.

According to company registration documents, a physical company owned by Pump.fun had registered the same property in Brighton and Hove. The address is also shared by two other companies, both of which list Kee Fatt Phoon, 62, as a director. Additionally, Phoon also

registered as a voter at this address.

Aliases and associations: Dylan Kerler or Dylan Phoon?

Dylan Kerler appears to have used the alias “Dylan Phoon,” which is the same surname as Kee Fatt Phoon, implying that the two may be related.

Until recently, a GitHub account with the nickname “outdoteth” maintained an old codebase containing a Gmail email named after Dylan Phoon; the profile picture used for this email also appeared on the Medium account called DylanKerler1, and on the LinkedIn and YouTube accounts under Dylan Phoon's name.

The

YouTube account mentioned above uploaded a video about the cryptocurrency Skycoin. Although the project was created by someone else, its project logo also appeared on ninjagod's BitcoinTalk account, which can be seen

as an indirect clue that the two came from the same person.

Another YouTube account, @dylankerler4130, posted a video about the “Equis” project, whose slogan is “Revolutionizing the Gaming Industry.” Equis was also promoted by ninjagod on BitcoinTalk, and its code is fully consistent with eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash. (The project did not arouse investor interest on the forum) In

summary, the two names used by the co-founders of Pump.fun — Dylan Kerler and Dylan Phoon —

can be traced back to accounts that promoted EthereumCash and eBitcoinCash on BitcoinTalk.
The

ICO bubble and early Rug Pull models

EbitcoinCash and EthereumCash were both launched by developers under the name Dylan Kerler during the peak of the ICO boom. Over that time, hundreds of token projects raised billions of dollars from investors through the ICO model. ICOs are popular among crypto startups because no equity dilution is required

.

Conducting an ICO usually involves a three-step process: deploying contract minting tokens on the Ethereum network, explaining the project vision on the official website, and Raise foreign investment. “A lot of projects are just a white paper plus an official website with a countdown timer — the threshold is extremely low,” Wang said

.

Analysts pointed out that although some ICO-funded projects (such as Ethereum) are still in operation, most ICOs are manipulated, exaggerated, or even outright fraudulent, which ultimately led to a tightening of regulations. Many developers exaggerate the purpose of the project

, manipulate prices to create popularity, and even fictitious return rates.

“Developers push the illusion of high returns,” said Nicolai Søndergaard, a research analyst at blockchain analysis firm Nansen. “This is where the FOMO mentality comes from.”

The hustle and

bustle of the ICO boom has left many unscrupulous investors doing little due diligence (Due Dilligence) in the process of chasing profits. This phenomenon is similar to today's act of investing in questionable memes. “The meme craze has many similarities to ICOs,” Søndergaard notes. “It's very easy to sell a story to the public and then harvest it quickly.”

The

boom and collapse of EthereumCash

A developer under the pseudonym Dylan Kerler began promoting its most popular token, EthereumCash, in early October 2017

.

The developer continued the previous standard script: minting tokens on Ethereum, building websites, and promoting on BitcoinTalk, Twitter, and Telegram. To create popularity, they distributed free tokens through a so-called “airdrop” and promised to publish a white paper. At the time, the white paper

was seen as a symbol of legitimacy and could drive up prices.

Søndergaard notes, “The publication of the white paper can greatly increase the appeal. Even just promising to release it is enough to stir up market sentiment.”

A screenshot of the project's removed website circulating

on Telegram revealed how it promoted it to potential investors. The page claims, “We are committed to making the transition from fiat to cryptocurrency as smooth as possible while maintaining an atmosphere of integrity and luxury (original language reserved).” An image of an EthereumCash bank card claimed to be usable for physical purchases is also shown at the bottom of the page

.

According to a table obtained by WIRED, hundreds of people have registered to participate in the EthereumCash airdrop in just a few days. Meanwhile, discussions were heated on the BitcoinTalk forum. One user wrote, “Let's spread the word and get more people to notice this amazing token.” As of October 19, the market capitalization of EthereumCash

has risen to around $1.3 million.

But just as early investors were full of expectations, a developer named Dylan Kerler began secretly shipping.

CertiK analysis shows that Dylan Kerler distributed millions of EthereumCash to wallets under its control a few days after the token was created. One of the wallets, which began with 0x7F3E2

, was then used to sell tokens in large quantities to the market.

0x7F3E2 sold hundreds of batches of EthereumCash on the peer-to-peer trading platform EtherDelta between October 19 and 21. These sales coincided with a catastrophic collapse in the asset's price, which fell by 87.9%

.

On Telegram and BitcoinTalk, panic began to spread. One user, probably hoping to find some fun, began dubbing the token “ECRASH.” Others alarmed the developers with full responsibility. Another Telegram user who participated in the EthereumCash airdrop told WIRED: “Everyone is outraged.” “I think this is my first experience with Rug Pull.

”

The high-profile white paper never appeared, and eventually, the developer named Dylan Kerler disappeared from BitcoinTalk posts and Telegram groups. A few days ago, he also wrote, “I can assure you that the project is making great

progress.”

In three transactions on October 20 and 21, the developer's wallet withdrew a total of 240 Ethereum (ETH) earnings from EtherDelta — around $75,000 at the time. After each withdrawal, these ETH are immediately transferred to another wallet address (0xc8ae1) and then distributed to three wallets: 0x7EABB, 0x31728, and 0x952F3. Eventually, this ETH was transferred to accounts on centralized trading platforms such as Binance, Bity, and the now-closed Cryptopia — platforms commonly used to exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat

currencies.

In total, WIRED has identified at least 20 wallets used by developers claiming to be Dylan Kerler, which are being used to issue, airdrop, or sell eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash, or transfer related revenue to centralized trading platforms.

“The effect of this hierarchical processing is to conceal the trajectory of capital flows,” Søndergaard said. “If you have nothing to hide, there's really no need to do this. That in itself is questionable.”

Although some investors still have fantasies about its return — on October 24, others joked “I smelled the smell of a white paper” — all signs already indicate the end.

In a BitcoinTalk post in early October, a developer wrote, “This would be like a Pump And Dump, with a round increase in shipments, early investors can recoup the costs.” “I'm sorry to be so direct, but it's true.

”

Faster than getting rich, Pump.fun's fury has not stopped even now, when it was forgotten

. According to third-party statistics, the platform's daily revenue is as high as $1 million. The fortunes of the founders have soared, leaving behind several streets of eBitcoinCash and EthereumCash back then. And while this “wealth making machine” continues to operate, Rug Pull, which goes against its original intention, continues to be staged, and almost no one is paying

attention to it.

Last November, a teenager started a live stream on Pump.fun and created and sold a token in just a few minutes, netting $30,000. “He shouted “" Holy Fuck!” Holy Fuck!” Bian raised his middle finger at the camera — this moment

is probably the only footnote that really belongs to this era.