A controversial new website has emerged, enticing thrill-seekers with bizarre and potentially dangerous challenges in exchange for cryptocurrency rewards. Launched by the California-based crypto platform Pump.fun on June 4, the site has already allocated over $370,000 in payouts, with more than $200,000 still available across approximately 270 ongoing bounties.
The platform allows users to submit videos of themselves completing a range of tasks, some of which have sparked significant concern. While some challenges are relatively benign, such as feeding stray cats or donating clothes to Goodwill, which earned participants $71 and $114 respectively, others venture into the outrageous. One individual was rewarded $72 for dumping a gallon of milk over his head while shouting the name of a cryptocurrency, while another garnered $322 for parading in a full gorilla suit emblazoned with “$bountywork.”
More extreme tasks include a man who filmed himself flushing his face in a toilet for a mere $71, while a participant in the Philippines tattooed “bounty.fun” on his forehead to secure a hefty $15,000 in crypto rewards. Among the most eye-popping challenges is a bounty that offers $57,200 to anyone who climbs Mount Everest to place a bet on Howl.com, alongside a $26,000 challenge for attending every World Cup match while displaying a promotional sign for the platform.
Pump.fun markets itself as a unique bounty platform, suggesting that it combines “humans & money” in a way that allows users to create or complete bounties for unlimited rewards, although the site warns participants to proceed at their own risk.
Despite some light-hearted tasks, critics have condemned the site for potentially exploiting vulnerable individuals. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has spoken out against the platform, suggesting that it should be banned as a “dystopian nightmare.” The head of product at X, Nikita Bier, echoed this sentiment, lamenting that the crypto industry now seems to cater to teenagers encouraging less fortunate individuals to participate in humiliating challenges.
Comments from social media users have drawn comparisons between the bounties offered on Pump.fun and scenarios from the television series “Black Mirror.” Participants noted that what might seem like innocent fun could quickly escalate into troubling predicaments that prey on desperation.
The criticism has led many to call for the platform’s swift closure, fearing that the nature of such bounties could devolve into something far more sinister. While Pump.fun has yet to respond to these outcries, the future of the platform remains uncertain amid mounting scrutiny.
