PUMP price rebounds as quiet buybacks fuel a $666m volume surge

$PUMP just pulled off a quiet rebellion. While critics dismissed it as another failed launch, the token rallied hard as Pump.fun deployed 98% of its revenue to buy back supply. The $666 million volume suggests conviction, but the real test is whether buyers stick around.

On July 31, Pump.fun ($PUMP) surged past skeptical traders with a 27% intraday rally, climbing from $0.0025 to a high of $0.003267 before settling at $0.002929 as of press time, CoinMarketCap data shows.

The move appeared more engineered than organic. It came as on-chain data showed Pump.fun channeling roughly 98% of the previous day’s PumpFun / PumpSwap fees directly into market buy orders, effectively shrinking the free float while trading volume ballooned to $666 million, up 22% on the session.

Can buybacks overcome $PUMP’s rocky start?

Thursday’s 27% surge marks $PUMP’s strongest move since its brutal post-launch collapse, but the rally comes with baggage. Just days before the buyback-fueled rebound, the token had fallen below its $0.004 ICO price, dragged down by a mass exodus of early investors.

Blockchain data shows private sale whales dumped over $160 million worth of $PUMP onto exchanges last week, with two wallets alone offloading 29.5 billion tokens. The sell pressure was expected: BitMEX analysts noted that 60% of presale participants liquidated or transferred positions immediately after launch.

The buyback strategy has at least temporarily shifted sentiment. Notably, crypto trader Machi Big Brother took a sizable long position following the revenue-recycling move, betting that artificial supply contraction could override weak fundamentals.

But the math remains tricky. Pump.fun would need to sustain these buybacks indefinitely to offset the remaining $29.5 million in whale holdings and the 37% of presale investors still sitting on unrealized losses.

Meanwhile, technicals suggest the token could retest $0.004 resistance if momentum holds, but the larger question lingers: Can a memecoin designed for viral pumps evolve into something more sustainable?

For now, the market’s verdict is split, with $PUMP’s funding rates remaining neutral, indicating neither shorts nor longs have full conviction. The next critical test comes when buyback volumes taper off, revealing whether this was a tactical reset or just another exit-liquidity play.