Pump.fun's PumpSwap Becomes Top Solana DEX as Project Ascend Redefines Creator Economy

Pump.fun’s decentralized exchange, PumpSwap, has taken the lead among Solana-based trading platforms. In the past 24 hours, it recorded its highest-ever daily trading volume at $878 million, surpassing established competitors Meteora and Raydium. 

The achievement coincides with renewed interest in pump.fun’s livestreaming features, which have recently regained traction. 

The surge highlights a shift in Solana’s decentralized exchange landscape, where user-driven activity and creator-focused tools are influencing liquidity flows.

Market Context and $PUMP Performance

Last week, pump.fun purchased $12,192,383 worth of $PUMP tokens through its buyback program, which equated to 98.23 percent of total revenue for the period between August 28 and September 3. These purchases bring the total buybacks to 5.363% of the circulating supply.

According to CoinGecko data, pump.fun’s native token $PUMP gained over 40% in the past week, reaching over $0.0048. This enthusiasm has been reinforced by the platform’s new initiative, Project Ascend, which introduces a dynamic fee model and expanded tools for creators.

In the last seven days alone, pump.fun reported over $12 million in creator fees claimed, with $1.7 million generated in just the past 24 hours. These figures underscore the scale of creator activity on the platform.

Project Ascend: A New Phase for Pump.fun

On September 2, pump.fun introduced Project Ascend, a significant update initiative aimed at strengthening the sustainability and alignment of projects within its ecosystem. According to the platform, the improvements are designed to multiply its impact, with two immediate priorities: significantly increasing creator earnings and expediting Community Takeover (CTO) fee applications.

Pump.fun’s recent changes have drawn wider attention across the Solana ecosystem. The official Solana X account, managed by the Solana Foundation, highlighted the update as part of a broader shift in digital creator economics. In its statement, the Foundation noted that the traditional model, where creators chase views to earn ad revenue, pushes them into producing shallow content without granting real ownership of their audience. Comparatively, pump.fun’s new structure emphasizes monetizing depth and building authentic community connections as the path forward.

Project Ascend’s first core innovation is Dynamic Fees V1. Under this model, creator fees start at 0.95% for tokens with a market cap of under $300,000 and gradually decrease to 0.05% for larger projects. 

The tiered fee structure applies retroactively to all tokens on PumpSwap, benefiting both new and existing projects. By starting with higher fees for smaller projects and tapering as tokens grow, the system aims to provide essential bootstrapping funds without discouraging trading in established assets.

Pump.fun argues that this change will make coin creation up to ten times more lucrative for creators. Post-launch data supports the claim, with creators earning $2.4 million within one day of the upgrade.

Alongside the fee update, pump.fun is doubling down on its streaming and “creator economy” features. The team has introduced a new Creator Capital Markets (CCM) concept, aiming to fuse live content creation with tokenized incentives. In effect, pump.fun wants fans to invest in creators’ success: instead of just tips or subscriptions, audiences can buy a streamer’s token and share in its growth.

However, some traders have voiced concerns that higher creator fees make trading more costly and could revive problems seen during the 2024 livestream era. X user dethective highlighted a case where two streamers allegedly took advantage of Project Ascend’s dynamic fee system to execute what he refers to as a “rug”, earning $13,990 in fees while the token’s value crashed 80 percent in a single minute after the stream ended.

Soju, Co-Lead of Meteora, also had similar sentiments as he critiqued the initiative, suggesting that the update may incentivize wash trading to maximize fees earned.

This has fueled debate about whether the model improves sustainability or simply creates new risks for market participants.

Reshaping the Creator Economy?

By redesigning fees and adopting a tokenized creator model, pump.fun aims to prioritize long-term growth and fan engagement over short-lived pumps. The record $878M trading day and millions paid to creators suggest it has succeeded, at least so far, in reinvigorating its platform.

Still, many questions remain. Can these innovations translate to a durable platform? Will increased payouts actually sustain interest and community growth beyond initial hype? Pump.fun proponents believe this is a turning point for on-chain creator economies. Critics worry it could simply be another speculative cycle. Time will tell whether Project Ascend marks a lasting evolution or just another burst of short-lived frenzy in the memecoin world.

Read More on SolanaFloor

Forward Industries Raises $1.65B to Kickstart $SOL Accumulation for the Market’s Biggest Solana DAT

The $126T Equities Market Is Coming Onchain