Solana News: Judge Clears Solana Labs as Pump.Fun RICO Case Proceeds

Solana News: Federal Court Rules on Pump.Fun Class Action A significant piece of Solana News broke out of the Southern District of New York on August 31, 2026. Judge Colleen McMahon ruled on three consolidated motions to dismiss in the Pump.fun class action, clearing the blockchain's core entities of every claim while letting narrower racketeering allegations against Pump.fun itself move toward discovery. Solana Labs, Foundation, and Executives Cleared The order removed every defendant tied to the underlying network from the case entirely. Judge McMahon threw out all claims against the company, its foundation, and five named executives: Anatoly Yakovenko, Raj Gokal, Dan Albert, Austin Federa, and Lily Liu. Plaintiffs had tried to hold these parties liable for meme coins minted on Pump.fun, a launchpad built on top of the network they maintain. This part of the Solana news cycle draws a clear line between a base-layer protocol and third-party applications, at least in this court's reading. Source:Official Report RICO Claims Against Pump.Fun Move to Discovery Not every defendant escaped. Counts I and II, alleging substantive and conspiracy racketeering violations, survive, but only as brought by plaintiffs Kendall Carnahan and Michael Okafor. Those counts proceed against Baton Corporation Ltd., the operating entity behind Pump.fun, and three individuals: Alon Cohen, Dylan Kerler, and Noah Tweedale. Every claim brought by lead plaintiff Diego Aguilar was rejected outright. The surviving allegations focus on an unlicensed money-transmission business and fraud, and this thread of the Solana News keeps developing as the case enters discovery. Securities and Unjust Enrichment Claims Dismissed Count III, alleging unregistered securities sales under Sections 5 and 12(a)(1) of the Securities Act, and Count IV, alleging control-person liability, did not survive. The court rejected both the FRED and GRIFFAIN tokens under Rule 12(b)(6) and, as to the remaining eighteen pump tokens, for lack of class standing. Count V, unjust enrichment, was also thrown out under Rule 12(b)(6) against every moving defendant. Every one of these dismissals is with prejudice, so plaintiffs cannot refile the same counts here, leaving this Solana News with a far narrower path forward. Claim Status at a Glance Here is how each count fared under the August 31 order: RICO, Counts I and II: proceeds to discovery, against Baton Corp, Cohen, Kerler, and Tweedale Securities Act, Counts III and IV: rejected with prejudice, no defendants remain Unjust enrichment, Count V: thrown out with prejudice, no defendants remain Claims by Diego Aguilar: rejected in full Claims against core network entities and executives: dropped entirely Source:Official Report PDF Unnamed KOL Defendants Face September Deadline The complaint also names twenty-five unidentified "Lead KOL Doe Defendants," none of whom have been identified or served more than a year and a half after the case began.