Bundling
Bundling is buying a large share of a new token's supply from several wallets in the same block as its launch, or within seconds of it, typically by the creator or associates, so that insider holdings appear spread among independent buyers.[1][2]
How it works[edit]
On Solana, bundles are usually sent through Jito: up to five transactions executed in order and all-or-nothing within one slot, so a token's creation and purchases from pre-funded wallets can land together before public buyers.[3] On a Bonding curve launchpad such as pump.fun this captures the cheapest supply. Luo et al. define bundle bots as the creator and controlled wallets buying in the launch block to hide the true position; they found them in about a quarter of meme coin projects studied and associated them with lower returns for others.[2] Bundled wallets usually share a funding source, and Bubblemaps groups such wallets into clusters likely controlled by one entity.[1]
Detection[edit]
Bubblemaps' bundle checker reads launch-block transactions. Its guide rates bundled supply under 5% as low concern, 5–15% moderate, over 15% serious and over 30% a reason to avoid the token.[1] Bundling differs from Sniping in that snipers need not be connected to the creator, though the two overlap.[1]
Examples[edit]
- PEPE (Ethereum): in December 2025 Bubblemaps alleged that about 30% of supply was bundled at the April 2023 launch and that the cluster sold about $2 million the next day; the project had described a stealth launch with no presale allocations.[4]
- WAP (Solana), a Cardi B-themed token: Bubblemaps reported 60% of supply was bundled at launch and $500,000 sold by 8 October 2024.[5] See Celebrity memecoins.
- Rugproof (Solana): in July 2025 Bubblemaps said the creator sent SOL to 162 wallets that bought half the supply at launch, calling it a red flag seen in past investigations; the team said the transfers were a SOL redistribution feature.[6]
Criticism[edit]
Bundling conceals concentration from holder lists and lets insiders sell into later demand, a common precursor to a Rug pull.[6][2] It also distorts on-chain records that Copy trading tools rely on.[2]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ How to Analyze Meme Coin Holders with Bubblemaps, Bubblemaps, 2026-03-25
- ^ Resisting Manipulative Bots in Meme Coin Copy Trading: A Multi-Agent Approach with Chain-of-Thought Reasoning, arXiv (WWW '26), 2026-01-13
- ^ Low Latency Transaction Send, Jito Labs, n.d.
- ^ PEPE memecoin launch insider wallet concentration: Bubblemaps, Cointelegraph, 2025-12-11
- ^ SCENE's 2024 Story of the Year: The Boom—and Bust—of Celebrity Meme Coins, Decrypt, 2024-12-26
- ^ Bubblemaps flags 'Rugproof' launchpad over alleged rug pull risk, Cointelegraph, 2025-07-29