TLDR
- Pump.fun token launches have dropped 80% from January peak of 70,000 to about 25,000 in February
- Daily tokens completing bonding fell from nearly 1,200 to about 200
- Recent memecoin scandals including LIBRA and TRUMP tokens have soured retail sentiment
- Pump.fun’s X account was hacked on February 26 to promote fake tokens
- Platform revenue has plummeted from $15.4 million in January to $1.1 million in late February
Memecoin creation platform Pump.fun has seen a sharp decline in activity over the past month as the latest memecoin craze cools down.
The stats tell a clear story. Daily token launches on Pump.fun have fallen from a peak of over 70,000 in late January to about 25,000 by February 26. This represents a drop of nearly two-thirds in just one month.
The decline is even more stark when looking at tokens that complete the “bonding curve” process. This crucial step is needed before a memecoin can list on Raydium, Solana’s main decentralized exchange.
Tokens completing this bonding process have plummeted from nearly 1,200 per day in January to just about 200 by late February. This represents a drop of more than 80% from peak activity.
The timing of the peak is no coincidence. January 23-24 saw record numbers shortly after Donald Trump unveiled his official memecoin and was inaugurated as President. This period marked the height of memecoin mania.
Trading volumes tell a similar story of decline. Pump.fun graduated tokens hit record daily trading volumes of over $3 billion during the January peak. Those numbers have since fallen dramatically.
The percentage of tokens that successfully “graduate” to Raydium has also declined. This rate peaked at 2.1% in June 2024 but has fallen to near all-time lows of 0.7% by February 2025.
Several factors have contributed to this cooling of the memecoin market. A series of high-profile scandals have left many retail traders wary of the space.
Libra Token
One major incident involved the LIBRA token, which appeared to be endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei. The token erased about $4.4 billion in market value within hours of launching on February 14.
Traders have also lost approximately $2 billion across 800,000 wallets on the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin since January. These losses have dampened enthusiasm for new token launches.
Even Pump.fun itself became a victim of fraud. On February 26, the platform’s X social media account was hacked. The attackers used it to promote a fake governance token called “PUMP” and other fraudulent coins.
The platform has faced other challenges too. Law firms have demanded that Pump.fun remove tokens that infringe on intellectual property rights. This includes unauthorized use of company names and logos.
A class action lawsuit filed in January has also sued the platform. The suit alleges that Pump.fun offered and sold “highly-volatile” unregistered securities to investors.
Critics have also taken aim at the platform’s fee structure. According to data from crypto investment firm Hashed, Pump.fun has earned over 3 million SOL in total revenue since launching in January 2024.
Platform revenue followed the same downward trend as other metrics. Daily revenue peaked at $15.4 million on January 25 but fell to just $1.1 million by February 26.
Blockchain analytics show that as of February 26, Pump.fun has deposited over 2.4 million SOL to crypto exchange Kraken. The platform has also sold more than 264,000 SOL for USDC stablecoins.
This decline comes after a period of remarkable growth for Solana. The blockchain saw its total value locked (TVL) rise from around $1.4 billion to more than $9 billion in 2024, largely driven by memecoin trading.
A report by crypto research firm Messari highlighted that application revenues on Solana increased by 213% in the fourth quarter of 2024. This growth was primarily attributed to memecoin speculation.
The broader memecoin market has also suffered. The GMCI Meme index, which tracks the largest memecoins by market cap, has fallen more than 30% over the past month and 45% year-to-date.
Pump.fun co-founder Alon expressed disappointment about recent events. In a February 17 post on X, he stated he was “disgusted” by incidents like the LIBRA token collapse. He noted that he designed Pump.fun to “democratize coin creation” and build in “safety, simplicity, and fairness” for each launch.
I’m disgusted by the events that transpired over the past days surrounding $LIBRA. The people behind this project made substantial personal gains at the expense of many users, the ecosystem, and even an entire country.
I hope the people responsible get what they deserve.
I’m…
— alon (@a1lon9) February 17, 2025
SOL, the native token of the Solana blockchain, has not escaped the downturn. It’s currently trading at around $140, having dropped more than 40% over the past month.
