“The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Crypto”: Pump.fun Founder Responds to Criticism After Recording 1.5M Token Launches

Solana’s favorite no-code token deployer has proven itself the biggest application of the cycle, consistently generating millions in revenue.

Finn Miller

Published: Aug 2, 2024 at 14:00
Edited: Aug 2, 2024 at 13:53

Pump.fun, a popular Solana-based token deployment application, is showing no sign of stopping. After celebrating the launch of one million tokens on the platform on June 14, 2024, pump.fun notched 1.5M launches a mere 42 days later on July 25th.

Pump.fun Generates $85M Revenue Since January Launch

Consistently generating over $1M in daily revenue, pump.fun has established itself as one of the most valuable crypto apps in terms of revenue generation. In just under seven months since its January 14 launch, pump.fun has generated 520,412 SOL in revenue, currently valued at over $85M.

The platform’s viral growth has set an astonishing pace. After a comparatively slow start, pump.fun usage exploded in March and never looked back. On average, 12,679 tokens were launched daily on the platform in July, based on Dune Analytics data.

Off the back of its massive popularity, pump.fun recently crossed the 1.5M token deployment threshold. The no-code token creator is accelerating towards the next significant milestone at 2M launches and is expected to achieve this feat in just under 32 days, if it continues the pace set in July.

In a recent interview with threadguy, a popular crypto influencer, pump.fun co-founder alon credits the platform’s success to its accessibility. Alon argues that pump.fun is the ideal intersection between finance and social media, contending that “pump.fun is SocialFi in the most crypto-native way”.

Pump.fun Responsible for 40.97% of Solana DEX Transactions

One doesn’t need to look far to see that pump.fun has evolved into one of the most critical applications in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem.

According to Dune Analytics data collected over the past seven days, pump.fun transactions make up approximately 40.97% of all Solana DEX transactions.

However, given that tokens launched on the platform are migrated to Raydium upon reaching a market capitalization of $69,000, volumes on the app remain relatively low compared to other decentralized exchanges.

Dex volume market share

Despite attracting the bulk of Solana DEX transactions, pump.fun’s DEX volume market share continues to hover around 4%, with Raydium being a significant benefactor of pump.fun’s success.

“The Worst Thing That Ever Happened to Crypto” - Alon Responds to Criticism

For many blockchain advocates, pump.fun represents all the worst parts of the industry. Arguing that the proliferation of meme coins on Solana is drawing attention away from serious projects, and delegitimizing the industry.

In response to criticism, alon concedes that “pump.fun is the worst thing to happen for crypto for a lot of people”. However, the co-founder argues that the platform has simply “uncovered the veil” and exposed “crypto for what it really is”.

Looking ahead, alon posits that the key to continuing pump.fun’s meteoric growth is to “leaning into what we’ve already done”.

While not giving away any hints regarding upcoming features on the platform, alon indicated that the pump.fun team was committed to “improving the experience while maintaining the culture that makes it so exciting in the first place.”