Pump.fun is, at its core, a memecoin trading platform. Its appeal lies in allowing retail participants to speculate on tokens at their earliest stage, before they migrate to larger exchanges or gain mainstream visibility.
A platform built for early memecoin speculation
Built on Solana, it has evolved beyond a simple launchpad into a broader social and creator-driven platform, adding live streaming, community features, and tools for low-friction token creation.
The mechanics are straightforward. Anyone can launch a coin in minutes for under $2, with no coding required. Each token starts with a fixed 800,000 supply and is distributed through a bonding curve: early buyers pay less, later buyers pay more, and liquidity is managed automatically. Importantly, there are no presales, team allocations, or insider deals. Once a token reaches a $69,000 market cap, it qualifies for listing on Raydium, transitioning into the broader DeFi ecosystem where liquidity pools deepen and speculation expands.
Revenue growth and user cycles
This model has translated into rapid growth. Pump.fun applies a 1.25% fee on all trades, split between 0.3% for creators and 0.95% for the protocol. According to Token Terminal, the platform generated $338 million in revenue during 2024 and $494 million year-to-date in 2025. User activity peaked at 4.2 million monthly actives in February 2025, while revenues topped out at $128 million in January. Engagement has since normalized to 1.9 million users in September, but revenue YTD already exceeds full-year 2024, showing strong monetization despite cooling volumes.
(Source: Token Terminal)
Token price performance
The platform’s token reflects this speculative cycle. Launched on 14 July at $0.005, it initially halved to $0.0023 before rallying 256% to an all-time high of $0.087. It now trades 31% below its peak, only 17% above launch, with a market cap of $2.11 billion and FDV of $6 billion.
(Source: Coinmetrics)
Derivatives data adds further color. Funding rates remain near 9% annualized, data from Coinmetrics show, signaling a tilt toward long positioning but not at levels typically associated with excessive leverage. Open interest spiked alongside September’s rally and has since eased back, suggesting leverage was flushed out rather than left crowded as prices corrected.
Conclusion
In effect, Pump.fun operates as the on-ramp for memecoin speculation, letting users hunt for the next viral token before it reaches the broader market. For investors looking to bet on memecoins mania, Pump.fun's fee model captures activity regardless of which coin succeeds, making it more comparable to “selling shovels in a gold rush” than betting on any single asset.
