Missed $PUMP Sale? Kraken Plans Airdrop for Affected Buyers

TL;DR

• Kraken confirms free $PUMP airdrop for users with failed orders due to system constraints.
• The exchange will buy $PUMP from secondary markets as token trades above public sale price.
• Bybit and other exchanges also faced issues, but only Kraken has announced a compensation plan.


Kraken Responds After Users Face Order Failures

Kraken announced it will airdrop $PUMP tokens to users who were unable to complete their purchases during Pump.fun’s token sale due to “system constraints.”

Co-CEO Arjun Sethi confirmed the move, saying the sale was fully subscribed in under sixty seconds and demand far exceeded available supply.

“We reviewed internal order logs and client activity to identify those affected,” Sethi said.

Meanwhile, the exchange has not shared how many users will receive tokens, but confirmed that eligibility is based on verified intent to order during the sale window. The distribution will be automatic and free of charge.

Kraken to Purchase Tokens for Airdrop

Kraken will acquire $PUMP tokens from the secondary market to fulfill the airdrop. At the time of writing, perpetuals marketplace Hyperliquid shows $PUMP trading at around $0.0064, which is above the $0.004 public sale price.

This indicates that affected users may receive tokens at a premium compared to the original offering.

Kraken’s global head of consumer business said on X that impacted users will receive an email soon. “We’re working on a list,” the staffer noted, though some users claimed they were never able to access the sale at all.

We’re working on a list and will email clients soon.

— Mark Greenberg (@marklg) July 12, 2025

Other Exchanges Face Similar Issues

Kraken was not the only one facing problems during the $PUMP sale. Bybit issued an apology after users reported issues placing orders just seconds after the sale opened.

“Due to an unexpected API delay the offering was oversubscribed,” Bybit wrote on X.

A previous version of the statement blamed the delay on Pump.fun but was later edited.

BitGet, MEXC, KuCoin, and Gate also participated in the sale, but none have announced similar airdrop plans. Bybit has said it will share an additional update soon.

Pump.fun concluded its $500 million ICO in just 12 minutes. However, the platform did not distribute the full number of tokens originally announced for the public sale.