Pump.fun has spent $350 million on buybacks of its PUMP token since July 2025, yet the token's price remains 81% below its September all-time high, recently hitting record lows. Despite removing approximately 116 billion tokens, or 32.9% of the circulating supply, from the market, PUMP trades at around $0.00165, significantly below its $0.004 ICO price. Critics argue that insiders, who hold about half the supply, are using buybacks as exit liquidity, undermining the tokenomics structure. The situation is further complicated by an upcoming major unlock on July 12, 2026, which will release 41% of the locked supply into circulation. Concerns are heightened by on-chain data showing team-linked wallets transferring large amounts of PUMP to exchanges, suggesting potential sell-offs. Despite cumulative protocol revenue exceeding $1 billion, the buyback strategy has yet to result in sustained token appreciation, raising questions about its effectiveness and the potential impact of the upcoming supply increase.