New Delhi: A new online platform has raised eyebrows and sparked a frenzy for letting people list real-world tasks and offer others money to complete them. Since its launch, people have willingly spray painted their cars, got tattoos on their foreheads, and finished a whole watermelon within a minute.
The platform, GO, was launched on 4 June by Pump.fun, a no-code memecoin generator that operates on the Solana blockchain.
“Create & complete bounties for ANY task and leverage the power of humans & money across the globe. The world is at your fingertips. It’s time to GO,” Pump.fun announced on X.
To get started, users need to connect their X account and wallet to the platform and then proceed to post a task — mentioning the timeframe, deliverables, and description. The bounty or reward has to be locked in an escrow account — minimum $5 — after which the platform reviews and approves the listing.
Hours after the platform went live, people flooded it with listings, which ranged from harmless tasks like adopting a dog to dangerous ones even involving suicide.
Interview the family of Henry Nowak’s killer
The top bounty being offered on the platform is over $23,000 for interviewing the family of Vickrum Digwa, who has been jailed for life for killing 18-year-old student Henry Nowak in the UK.
“We’re looking for the first person to conduct and film a real, on camera interview with either a family member of the individual responsible for Henry Nowak’s death, or the main police officer involved in the incident. The more viral the interview the better!” the description of the task reads.
Tattoo on forehead
To bag a reward of $3,000, an Indian man got “$bountywork” tattooed right on his forehead, and posted a video of the process for verification. Soon, several others got inspired and posted photos with the forehead tattoo. One even went a step ahead and got the tattoo in bold, gothic style, saying that the “design reflects a strong hustle mentality, discipline, and the pursuit of prosperity through dedication and effort.”
A video of Hunter Biden
One of the listings on the platform offers nearly $31,000 to make Hunter Biden, son of former US President Joe Biden, say that “Pump Fun Hits Harder Than Crack”. It’s an apparent dig at Hunter who has been lately posting about his drug addiction online, along with his criminal record and the issues with the American economy.
While the platform has emerged as a source of fun for some and quick money for others, some users on X are calling it “exploitative” and “evil”
“PumpFun is the biggest cancer in this industry. This platform is exploitative in its nature. Getting fees from your own coin is one thing. Creating global ‘challenges’ is a whole other level of evil,” wrote one person.
Another asked, “Did they make a cash-prize version of the blue whale?”