How a 17-Year-Old Australian Made Over $1 Million on Memecoins in Just 6 Months

Meet Crunch (also known as Washi), a 17-year-old from Australia who turned a $5 SOL investment into more than $1 million in under six months - all through creating and trading memecoins on Pump.fun.

From School to Full-Time Crypto Hustle

Crunch started in January 2025 with just 5 SOL. After early losses that dropped him to 0.9 SOL, he decided to go all-in. He dropped out of his final year of high school and committed to 18-hour workdays, skipping games, TV, and social life. His only focus: monitoring X (Twitter) for trending narratives - Elon Musk tweets, viral memes, NASA announcements, celebrity news, or even "RIP" tributes.

“You have to live in the trenches,” he says.

Speed + Narrative = Profit

Using custom deployment tools, Crunch launches coins faster than anyone else. The process is simple but ruthless:

1. Spot a trend (Solana founder tweets “gore” –> launch $GORE)
2. Create coin on Pump.fun (~0.1 SOL)
3. Buy ~10% of supply (~3 SOL)
4. Pump via narrative - let the meme spread
5. Sell holdings + collect creator fees

He’s launched thousands of tokens across Pump.fun and Bonk.fun. Not all win - he’s lost $18K and $3K on single trades, but the winners pay big.

Biggest Wins

• July 2025: Averaged $20K/day, total over $600K
• $GORE coin: Invested $442 to profit $2,300 + $125,000 in Pump.fun fees (market cap hit $65M)
• Top trader on $GORE made $877K

Total across two wallets > $1.5 million

Crunch is heavily criticized online. His wallet is flagged, and he’s called a “serial rugger” - someone who pumps and dumps, leaving buyers with crashing tokens.

His defense?

“These are memes, not projects. No promises. Everyone knows devs sell”

He insists it’s not a scam - just high-risk, high-reward trading in a transparent system.

What It Means for Crypto

Crunch’s story proves anyone with internet, timing, and grit can enter the memecoin game. Platforms like Pump.fun have launched over 2.5 million tokens, generating millions in daily revenue - but also enabling rug pulls and extreme volatility.

Memecoins reward speed, narrative, and zero attachment, but one wrong move can wipe you out.