What Is Pump.fun? Solana Meme Coin Launchpad, PUMP Token & How It Works

Pump.fun lets anyone create a cryptocurrency token in under a minute. No coding. No liquidity setup. Pick a name, upload an image, click a button, and your token is live on Solana.

That simplicity turned Pump.fun into the most prolific token factory in crypto history. Since launching in January 2024, the platform has generated over 11.9 million tokens, pulled in more than $800 million in cumulative revenue, and accounted for up to 71% of all daily token launches on Solana. It became the fastest crypto application to reach $100 million in revenue. Then it raised $1.3 billion in its own token sale in July 2025, making it one of the largest ICOs ever on the Solana blockchain.

The PUMP token currently trades at approximately $0.002 with a market cap around $1.2 billion. It peaked at $0.0088 in September 2025 and has dropped roughly 75% since.

Pump.fun is also one of the most controversial platforms in crypto. Class action lawsuits. A UK regulatory ban. Livestream scandals. And data showing that approximately 98.6% of tokens launched on the platform exhibited rug-pull behavior.

How Does Pump.fun Work?

Pump.fun uses a bonding curve to price tokens automatically from the moment of creation. When someone launches a new token, there is no presale, no team allocation, and no need to set up a liquidity pool. The bonding curve handles everything.

Early buyers get tokens at a lower price. Each subsequent purchase pushes the price higher along the curve. Sellers exit through the same curve, which pushes the price back down. This creates instant tradability without requiring a traditional order book or market maker.

The creation process itself takes seconds. You connect a Solana wallet (Phantom, Solflare, or similar), enter a token name, ticker symbol, and description, upload an image, and click create. The cost is free (Pump.fun removed the 0.02 SOL creation fee in August 2024). You can optionally link a Twitter account, Telegram group, or website.

Once a token's market cap reaches approximately $69,000, it "graduates." Graduated tokens migrate automatically from the bonding curve to PumpSwap, Pump.fun's native decentralized exchange. Before March 2025, graduated tokens migrated to Raydium. That changed when Pump.fun launched PumpSwap and brought all liquidity in-house.

Pump.fun charges a 1% fee on bonding curve trades. PumpSwap charges 0.25% per swap (0.20% to liquidity providers, 0.05% to the protocol). Creators of graduated tokens also receive 0.05% of PumpSwap trading volume on their token through the Creator Revenue Sharing program launched in May 2025.

What Is PumpSwap?

PumpSwap is Pump.fun's native DEX, launched on March 20, 2025. It replaced Raydium as the destination for graduated tokens.

Before PumpSwap, tokens that completed their bonding curve on Pump.fun migrated to Raydium for secondary market trading. That migration carried a 6 SOL fee (roughly $950 at the time) and introduced delays that broke a new token's momentum. PumpSwap eliminated both problems. Migrations are now instant and free.

The DEX operates as a constant product AMM, similar to Uniswap V2 and Raydium V4. It supports any SPL token, including those beyond Pump.fun graduates. PumpSwap has integrated tokens from outside the meme coin space, including PENGU, cbBTC (Coinbase), APT (Aptos), and USDe (Ethena).

By mid-2025, PumpSwap had reached over $140 million in total value locked, ranking among Solana's top 20 DeFi protocols. The move devastated Raydium's meme coin revenue. Roughly 41% of Raydium's swap fees had come from Pump.fun tokens in the months before PumpSwap launched. Raydium's TVL dropped from $2.97 billion in January 2025 to $1.16 billion by late March.

What Is the PUMP Token?

PUMP is Pump.fun's native token, launched via an Initial Coin Offering on July 12, 2025. The public sale offered 150 billion tokens (15% of total supply) at $0.004 each. It sold out in 12 minutes, raising $600 million. A concurrent private sale raised an additional $700 million, bringing the total to $1.3 billion at a $4 billion fully diluted valuation.

The token listed on Binance, Bybit, KuCoin, Kraken, Bitget, MEXC, Gate.io, and other major exchanges within days of the sale. Early exchange trading saw prices range between $0.005 and $0.007 before the token began its broader decline.

Tokenomics Breakdown

The team releases approximately 10 billion PUMP tokens monthly through its vesting schedule. Unlocking continues through July 2029. Only 59% of the total supply is currently in circulation, meaning significant dilution pressure remains.

PUMP is designed to serve as the ecosystem's utility and governance layer.

Planned and partially implemented features include fee discounts, governance voting, and buyback programs. Pump.fun has conducted token buybacks exceeding $19 million using platform revenue, purchasing roughly 3 billion PUMP tokens in mid-2025. The platform generates approximately $1 million per day in revenue as of late 2025, with a portion allocated to ongoing buybacks.

What Has Pump.fun Launched?

The numbers tell the scale of Pump.fun's impact on Solana.

Several of the most valuable meme coins of 2024-2025 launched on Pump.fun. Fartcoin hit a $1 billion market cap. Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) reached $1.8 billion. GOAT reached $1.3 billion. Moo Deng (MOODENG) surged past $300 million within days of launch. Others include Chill Guy, Billy, Michi, Shark Cat, FWOG, and Smoking Chicken Fish.

The vast majority of tokens, however, fail. Research from Solidus Labs found that 98.6% of tokens launched on Pump.fun showed rug-pull behavior. Only about 1.4% of tokens reach the graduation threshold needed for DEX listing. And according to leaked profit-and-loss data, only 1.7% of active wallets on the platform made more than $500 in a given month.

What Are the Controversies?

Pump.fun has faced sustained legal, regulatory, and ethical backlash.

Lawsuits. Multiple class action lawsuits were filed in the Southern District of New York in January 2025, alleging that Pump.fun operated as an unregistered securities exchange. The cases, consolidated in June 2025, argue that tokens created on the platform constitute unregistered securities under the Securities Act of 1933. A separate lawsuit invoked RICO (racketeering) statutes, alleging coordinated market manipulation. Pump.fun's founders have denied these accusations.

UK ban. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority placed Pump.fun on its Warning List in December 2024, stating the platform was not authorized to operate in the country. Pump.fun responded by permanently blocking all UK users.

Livestream scandals. Pump.fun launched a native livestreaming feature in 2024 to let token creators market their projects. It quickly devolved. Users performed dangerous stunts, faked suicides, and streamed graphic content to pump their tokens. A 13-year-old launched a token, promoted it on stream, then dumped his holdings at $1 million market cap, netting $50,000. The livestream feature was suspended in November 2024 and later relaunched with stricter moderation.

Token failure rate. The 98.6% rug-pull statistic from Solidus Labs remains the platform's most damning data point. While Pump.fun's bonding curve model prevents certain types of rug pulls (LP tokens are burned for graduated tokens), creators can still dump their own holdings immediately after launch. The platform displays transparency tools like top-holder percentages, but these do not prevent the underlying behavior.

How Has PUMP Performed Since Launch?

PUMP peaked at a roughly $3.1 billion market cap in September 2025 before declining to its current level around $1.2 billion. The token is currently trading below its $0.004 ICO price, meaning public sale participants are underwater. The team's ongoing buyback program ($1M+ daily revenue funding purchases) has not reversed the downtrend but may be establishing a floor.

Key upcoming catalysts include a planned PUMP token incentive program (rewarding traders with PUMP for platform activity), potential expansion to EVM-compatible chains, and the $3 million Pump Fund hackathon in 2026.

How to Trade PUMP

Via Phemex

Phemex lists PUMP/USDT for spot trading.

1. Create a Phemex account and complete verification

2. Deposit USDT or purchase with fiat

3. Search for PUMP/USDT in spot trading

4. Place your order (market or limit)

Via Other Exchanges

PUMP trades on Binance, Bybit, Kraken, KuCoin, Bitget, MEXC, Gate.io, OKX, and Coinbase. Binance carries the highest centralized exchange volume for PUMP/USDT.

On-Chain

You can swap SOL for PUMP directly on PumpSwap or through Jupiter aggregator using a Phantom or Solflare wallet. Solana transaction fees are under $0.01.

What Are the Risks?

Trading below ICO price. PUMP currently trades at roughly half its $0.004 ICO price. Public sale participants who held through the decline are sitting on significant unrealized losses. This creates ongoing sell pressure as locked tokens continue to vest.

Massive dilution ahead. Only 59% of the 1 trillion total supply is circulating. Approximately 10 billion tokens vest monthly through 2029. That is a constant stream of new supply entering the market regardless of demand conditions.

Platform revenue declining. Pump.fun's daily revenue dropped from over $4 million in January 2025 to roughly $1 million by late 2025. Meme coin activity on Solana has cooled significantly from its 2024 peak. If trading volumes continue declining, the revenue that funds buybacks and ecosystem development shrinks with them.

Regulatory exposure. Active lawsuits in the Southern District of New York allege that Pump.fun operates as an unregistered securities exchange. The UK has already banned the platform. If U.S. courts rule unfavorably, the implications for both the platform and the PUMP token could be severe.

Competition. LetsBONK.fun (backed by the BONK community and Raydium), Boop.fun, and other launchpads are competing for the same Solana meme coin audience. Raydium's LaunchLab targets Pump.fun directly. Platform loyalty in meme coins is thin.

Ethical concerns. The 98.6% rug-pull rate, livestream controversies, and the platform's revenue model (which profits regardless of user losses) raise persistent questions about the alignment of platform incentives with user outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Pump.fun?

Pump.fun is a Solana-based launchpad that lets anyone create and trade meme coin tokens in seconds with no coding required. It launched in January 2024 and has generated over 11.9 million tokens.

What is the PUMP token?

PUMP is Pump.fun's native token, launched via a $1.3 billion ICO in July 2025. It has a total supply of 1 trillion tokens and is intended to serve as the ecosystem's utility and governance layer.

How does the bonding curve work?

Every new token starts on a bonding curve that automatically sets the price based on supply and demand. Early buyers pay less. Each purchase raises the price. Selling pushes it back down. At $69,000 market cap, the token graduates to PumpSwap for broader trading.

What is PumpSwap?

PumpSwap is Pump.fun's native DEX, launched in March 2025. It replaced Raydium as the destination for graduated tokens, offering instant and free migrations along with creator revenue sharing.

Is Pump.fun legal?

Pump.fun faces active class action lawsuits in the U.S. alleging it operates as an unregistered securities exchange. The UK's FCA banned it in December 2024. The legal status remains unresolved.

Bottom Line

Pump.fun built the infrastructure that powered Solana's meme coin explosion. No platform has created more tokens, generated more revenue, or attracted more controversy in a shorter timeframe. The numbers are staggering on both sides. Over $800 million in revenue. Over 11.9 million tokens launched. 98.6% of them showed rug-pull behavior.

The PUMP token sits at an interesting inflection point. It trades below its ICO price with 41% of its supply still locked and vesting. But Pump.fun still generates roughly $1 million per day in revenue, ranks among Solana's top protocols, and has $1.3 billion in ICO capital to deploy. The team is acquiring trading infrastructure (Padre, Vyper), building investment arms (Pump Fund), and expanding creator incentives.

If Solana meme coin activity rebounds, Pump.fun is positioned to capture a disproportionate share of it. If it does not, PUMP holders face continued dilution into a shrinking market. Size your position accordingly.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency trading carries extreme volatility and potential for total loss of capital. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.