74.75% of $PUMP ICO Processed on Solana as Exchanges Fumble Launch

The Solana network outclassed centralized exchanges in July 12th’s historic $PUMP ICO, executing 89.7% of all public token purchases. 

Crypto commentators speculate that exchanges may have feigned incompetence to accumulate $PUMP tokens for their own treasuries.

Despite the palpable excitement towards the $PUMP airdrop and TGE, letsBONK.fun continues to dominate launchpad activity and market share.

CEXes Incapable of Processing $PUMP Sale

The $PUMP ICO was one of the biggest events in crypto history. Offering 150B $PUMP tokens at a one-off price of $0.004, the sale successfully sold out in just 12 minutes, collecting $600M.

Pump.fun’s historic ICO was executed both onchain, and through various supporting centralized exchanges. However, as the floodgates opened and eager buyers FOMOed into the token sale, centralized exchanges appear to have been completely overwhelmed by demand. 

Meanwhile, the Solana network’s median fee barely flinched as over 10,000 wallets clamored for an allocation.

According to the pump.fun ICO page, around $448.5M of the $600M sale was handled natively onchain, representing 74.75% of the entire ICO. Kraken and Bitget led volume among centralized exchanges, witnessing $30M worth of $PUMP purchases. 

ByBit and Kraken have both released statements addressing their underwhelming performance during the ICO, claiming that the sale was oversubscribed within minutes of launch. Unable to contend with high demand, ByBit is now distributing $20 fee vouchers as compensation for unsuccessful buys. Kraken has confirmed that it will airdrop $PUMP tokens to impacted users once trading goes live.

Crypto KOLs across the industry now speculate that ByBit may have bought the exchanges’ $PUMP allocation themselves.

Over 10,000 Wallets Join ICO

Pump.fun’s historic ICO attracted market participants from all backgrounds. Selling out in an astounding 12 minutes, Blockworks data reports that 10,145 unique addresses participated in the sale, with a median purchase amount $537.42.

The majority of participating wallets purchased between $100-$1000 worth of $PUMP. This suggests that the bulk of buyers are more likely to be retail investors with smaller portfolios, rather than institutional players or larger funds. That being said, 202 wallets contributed over $1M, reinforcing the notion that investors from all backgrounds are eager to have $PUMP exposure.

It appears that many traders created fresh wallets for the eagerly awaited token sale. Onchain data suggests that $199.5M worth of $PUMP was purchased by wallets created within 24 hours of the ICO’s launch. 

Given that participants were required to KYC before completing the sale, it is unlikely that the high frequency of fresh wallets in the sale is a deliberate ploy to obfuscate holdings.

LetsBonk Maintains Launchpad Lead

While the $PUMP ICO dominated attention and mindshare over the course of the weekend, the trenches were telling a different story. Rival platform letsBONK.fun retains a firm grip on the meme economy, accounting for 58.95% of revenue across launchpads.

However, bonding curve trading activity seems to be tipping back in pump.fun’s favor. According to Jupiter’s AlphaScan, pump.fun currently leads trading volume across launchpads, constituting  46.9% of market share.

With pump.fun’s token sale in the books, the $PUMP TGE and initial airdrop is expected to go live in the immediate term, with trading opening at 17:00 UTC on July 24. Pump.fun is yet to make any announcements regarding the airdrop.

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