Printr returns $2.5M after community-sale controversy

Printr, the Bybit-backed omnichain token launchpad, announced on April 30 that it has returned nearly $2.5 million raised in its $PRINT community sale to the original wallets of participants. The company said refunds would be returned within 24 hours and that no action is required from contributors. It added that more details about the process will be shared within seven days.

The refunds follow a wave of fear, uncertainty and doubt tied to several token launches associated with the platform. Printr’s outgoing CEO, known as Fed, wrote that a token called Fax had approached him saying it would build a fee-share feature on the platform. He described that proposal as a community contribution, and users later accused Fax of launching a token and farming users, which led to heavy selling of ecosystem tokens, including Printr’s staking token $BELIEF.

Fed resigned from the CEO role citing reputational fallout and a high volume of abusive messages that affected his health. He wrote, ‘I have received many toxic messages, threats, blaming me for the actions of bad actors. The FUD, blame and toxicity has heavily weighed on my mental health. I’m dealing with chronic stress and other health problems, and I’m not in a state to continue as CEO through TGE and beyond.’ He said he will remain with Printr as an advisor.

Lennon Tan, previously chief operating officer and head of go-to-market, assumed the CEO position immediately. Co‑founder and CTO Lea retained her role. In his first public comments, Lennon rejected claims that Fed was a scammer, calling that narrative ‘the most absurd thing he had read,’ and confirmed the company had a clear path for the refund mechanics. Printr and Lennon said the platform continues to operate normally.

Printr has raised $4.5 million in institutional funding across two rounds: a $2.5 million pre-seed backed by Axelar, Sui Foundation, Flow Blockchain, Draper Dragon and Bitscale Capital, and a $2 million seed extension including Mantle EcoFund. The community sale that produced the nearly $2.5 million returned this week had valued the project at a $50 million fully diluted valuation.

Printr reported that its proof-of-belief token $BELIEF distributed 2,100 SOL to stakers from fee revenue. The company cited industry data showing the memecoin market lost 61% of its total value in 2025 and that fewer than 1% of tokens launched on major launchpads survived past their bonding curve out of more than 11.5 million created.

Printr said it will publish further information on the refund process within seven days. The company did not provide a detailed timetable for future token generation events or a full strategic plan under the new CEO; Lennon noted he had been in the role for less than a day at the time of his first statement.