Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov (@newmichwill) has taken aim at two of Solana's most prominent products, calling memecoin launchpad PumpFun a "casino of scams" and criticising the user e
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AnonymousCryptoCompass newsroom
August 17, 2026
2 min read
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Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov (@newmichwill) has taken aim at two of Solana's most prominent products, calling memecoin launchpad PumpFun a "casino of scams" and criticising the user experience of the Phantom wallet.
PumpFun in the Crosshairs
Egorov's remarks on PumpFun reflect a broader concern about the quality of applications rising to prominence within the Solana ecosystem. PumpFun has established itself as a key player in the Solana ecosystem, facilitating the rapid creation and listing of meme tokens. However, the platform's track record for user outcomes is mixed. That scale does not translate into strong outcome rates, with the platform still producing a large volume of failed or forgettable launches, and only a small share of tokens ever graduating into cleaner secondary liquidity.Egorov's statements come at a time when memecoins have surged in popularity, attracting retail investors seeking quick profits, though the ease of creating tokens on platforms like PumpFun has led to numerous rug pulls and scams.
Phantom vs. MetaMask: A UX Divide
Egorov also pointed to difficulties connecting Phantom, Solana's most popular wallet, to a hardware wallet. Although the connection eventually worked, he described the experience as far worse than using MetaMask, a common Ethereum wallet.This criticism underscores ongoing usability challenges that could hinder broader adoption of Solana-based tools.
Despite the sharp words, Egorov was not entirely dismissive of Solana. While acknowledging the Solana Foundation's efforts to support developers and projects, Egorov noted that the ecosystem's flagship examples are not compelling. The comments suggest his frustration is directed at specific applications rather than the underlying network itself.
Egorov is one of DeFi's more outspoken figures. Behind the success of Curve Finance as a leading protocol for stablecoin exchanges, there is a figure with a high-level mathematics and physics background. His willingness to publicly critique competing ecosystems and products continues to make him a notable voice in decentralised finance discussions.
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