David Hirsch, who served as chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has clarified that he has not joined the pump.fun team in any capacity.

In a message to Cointelegraph, the recently retired SEC veteran confirmed that any claims associating him with the Solana-based memecoin platform represented misinformation.

"The claim is false. I have not announced my next role, but it is not with a meme/coin platform."

Misinformation or epic troll? 

On June 17, rumors began circulating that Hirsch had accepted a position with the pump. fun platform due to a somewhat tongue-in-cheek social media post from pump. fun directed at Hirsch.

Related: Crypto chief bids SEC farewell after 9 years of service .

The post began by congratulating Hirsch on his new role as head of trading before stating, “After months of conversations with alon, David came to the realization that his work as a regulator was no longer fulfilling. He had to start a new chapter.”

Pump.fun continued: “And what’s better than doing the very thing you love? Believe it or not, but David has launched over 100 coins himself [...]. A memelord at heart, David will be in charge of pump dot fun's new internal trading desk, which will be in charge of launching over 1,000 coins per day!”

Former SEC official David Hirsch says he is not joining pump.fun image 0 Binance publication in response to pump.fun’s post. The post has since been removed. Source: Binance.

The rumors led Binance’s team to congratulate Hirsch on his new role. The platform has since taken down the publication, further fueling speculation. 

Nine-year SEC regulator retires

David Hirsch, who began his career at the SEC as a staff attorney, stepped down as head of the SEC's Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit on June 14.

The regulatory official’s career at the Securities and Exchange Commission began in 2015 and spanned nearly nine years. Hirsch became head of the SEC’s crypto enforcement division in 2022.

Following his retirement, the SEC regulator told his followers on social media, "For now, I’m excited for a break and travel with my family before my son heads to college in the fall.”

Magazine: Longevity expert: AI will help us become ‘biologically immortal’ from 2030 .