Toly’s Time Hits $191 per Minute in New Solana App Time.fun

What is your time worth? Time.fun, an emerging Solana application, is putting this question to the test, giving users access to their favorite creators, investors, and public figures through the tokenization of time.

Despite Time.fun being far from crypto’s first SocialFi app, markets appear to be reacting positively to the idea, witnessing millions in trading volume on launch day.

How does Time.fun work, and can the platform rise above scores of failed SocialFi apps and find long-term PMF?

How Does Tokenizing Time Work?

Time.fun is a creative application that creates a market for tokenized time. Transforming time into a valuable commodity, Time.fun enables creators to monetize their time, while simultaneously giving users direct access to public figures. 

Simply put, buying 10 minutes worth of someone’s time lets you communicate with them through direct messages, group chats, or 1-1 calls.

When a user redeems their minutes, around 94% of that value is paid out to the creator. Additionally, creators are rewarded with a percentage of the trading fees generated by speculators and fans who trade a creator’s time. 

Time markets are initially priced on a bonding curve, meaning that traders are not required to find a buyer or seller to trade tokens. Similar to pump.fun’s iconic ‘graduation mechanic’, time markets that reach a certain liquidity threshold are migrated to Raydium.

Theoretically, migrated tokens are composable and can be further integrated into Solana DeFi. In the future, minute holders might be able to collateralize a creator’s time and borrow against it.

Toly’s Minutes Worth $191

Naturally, no one’s time in the Solana ecosystem is worth more than that of co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko. Within the first day of Time.fun’s launch, Toly’s minutes have over $20M in trading volume, reaching an all-time high value of $191 per minute.

The Solana co-founder has championed Time.fun’s innovative approach to commodifying time. Lamenting the overflow of spam and redundant messages that plague legacy inboxes, Yakovenko argues that having a “high signal channel would make a huge difference” to business communications.

Currently, time market creation is permissioned, with the Time.fun team manually verifying creator accounts. According to Time.fun docs, the protocol has not announced plans for a native token or airdrop.

Time.fun Migrates From Base

While the Solana community has welcomed Time.fun with open arms, the platform first debuted on Base, a popular Ethereum Layer-2, in June 2024.

While Time.fun founder Kawz acknowledged that the product was well received, the platform was incomplete. Communication between users was handled outside the Time.fun app, making it difficult to accurately track calls, messages, and redemptions.

After going back to the drawing board, Time.fun has deployed its new protocol on Solana. The revamped app now hosts all communications within Time.fun, dramatically improving the user experience.

Time.fun’s migration to Solana has been rewarded. While Time.fun’s launch on Base witnessed over $1M in trading volume, the platform’s first day on Solana has shattered that record. Several time markets have reached $1M in trading volume, with Toly’s minutes alone surpassing $20M.

While Time.fun is enjoying the excitement of a successful launch, only time will tell if the platform can retain users long term. SocialFi has always been a difficult niche for emerging apps, with protocols like friend.tech struggling to stand the test of time.

Time.fun isn’t the first SocialFi product the Solana co-founder has put his weight behind. Throughout 2024, Yakovenko frequently used Solinked and its sister site qna.fun, enabling users to contact him directly for a small fee.

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