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Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov took aim at the Solana-powered memecoin platform Pump.fun earlier this week, calling it a “casino of scams called memecoins” while lumping Solana’s Phantom Wallet along with it.
Egorov’s harsh words came in a reply to Clawpump founder Tomi204, who detailed how he went from an Ethereum maxi to a Solana one. Tomi called Pump.fun “the cleanest case study in crypto.”
Ser, wtf. https://t.co/nPJA6XNvDE is a casino of scams called memecoins. Phantom wallet barely works (I had very bad experience trying to connect it to hw wallet – it worked at the end but UX was worse than Metamask).
Solana DOES does ecosystem support very well, but best…
— Michael Egorov (@newmichwill) August 16, 2026
Egorov’s criticism then went beyond Pump.fun. He said Phantom Wallet “barely works” and described a poor user experience when connecting the wallet to a hardware wallet. The connection did end up working in the end, but he said it was worse than using MetaMask.
Egorov did give Solana some credit, stating that it supports its ecosystem “very well,” but argued that its “best examples aren’t very good.”
His point separates Solana from its app experience, noting that a network can attract users even if its products fall short in terms of design.
Tomi204 pushed back in a reply, stating that Pump.fun only provides a service. Users decide how to use it.
He added that casino-like trading exists across crypto networks, including on Ethereum. In his view, demand for memecoins would remain without Pump.fun, and if it were gone, another platform would take its place.
While many would argue how a platform is used is the responsibility of traders and the platform, Tomi204’s suggestion also raises questions about what a major token launcher owes its users.
Tomi204 said he prefers other wallets but believes Phantom may still be the best choice for an everyday user.
Both views can be true. Phantom may offer a simple first step into Solana while making advanced safety tools harder to use.
Egorov later criticized beyond Solana and Phantom. He said wallets and other software can do something well, gain attention, and then become “lazy” as the product declines, and wondered whether Phantom is going down that route.
Usually it so happens that a wallet or other software does something right, then gets a good mind share, and then starts being lazy and degrades. I wonder if something like this applies here. Not uncommon on Ethereum and outside blockchains
— Michael Egorov (@newmichwill) August 16, 2026
However, Pump.fun does not prove that Phantom has declined or that every token it lists is a scam. Egorov based his wallet criticism on one experience, and Tomi204 focused on reach and demand.
Still, their debate shows two ways to judge Solana’s leading apps. Pump.fun can be measured by demand or by the quality of its tokens, whereas Phantom can be measured by its reach or by how well its security features work.
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