What Is Pump.fun? The Solana Meme Coin Factory

In September 2024, Solana-based protocol Pump.fun became the fastest growing crypto app in history, surging to $100 million in revenue in record time. It’scontinued to grow, taking in more than $780 million in revenue, completing a $600 million initial coin offering, and creating more than 11.9 million tokens.

The meme coin launchpad has birthed some of the biggest memes, viral metas, and dangerous moments in crypto history, including the ridiculous Fartcoin, a slew of celebrity tokens, and a developer setting himself on fire.

Some have criticized the platform for oversaturating the meme coin market, while others have hailed it as the primary driver behind meme coin mania.

So just what is Pump.fun? Read on to find out how the meme coin launchpad works.

What is Pump.fun?

Created by co-founders Alon Cohen, Dylan Kerler, and Noah Tweedale in January 2024, Pump.fun is a protocol that allows anyone to create a token in minutes for free. To date, it has launched over 11.9 million tokens, and been responsible for up to 71 % of daily token launches on Solana.

One of Pump.fun’s most controversial features is its built-in live streaming function. Its addition came after a wave of meme coin developers streamed on Kick and Telegram as they performed funny, weird, and downright dangerous stunts to pump their tokens. The native feature resulted in a wave of polarizing streams, and was disabled for a time over safety fears.

More recently, Pump.fun has invested more time and money into livestreaming by funding big streamer projects and paying users to post viral clips of their favorite creators. Pump.fun has publicly stated that the project plans to “kill Facebook, TikTok, and Twitch,” a clear sign it is leaning into its social side.

Since launch, it has fended off rival protocols that also allow users to launch tokens for cheap. Players like DEX Screener’s Moonshot, Twitter-based Makenowmeme, and Justin Sun-endorsed SunPump—all of which tried and failed to topple Pump.fun from its throne for any significant period.

The latest challenger is LetsBonk, which flipped Pump.fun in daily created tokens in July 2025 and is fighting neck-and-neck for market share at the time of publication.

In July 2025, Pump.fun raised $600 million via an initial coin offering and launched its token days later. At the time of writing, PUMP is sitting at a $1.6 billion market cap and is the 80th largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinGecko data.

How do you create a token on Pump.fun?

All users have to do to create a meme coin on Pump.fun is fill in a short form.

The site requires you to enter a token name, ticker, description, and attach a photo, then click “create coin.” It really is that simple. Token creators can also choose to add a Twitter, Telegram, and website link, but this is entirely optional.

Image: Pump.fun

Previously, the site required creators to pay 0.02 SOL ($2.50 as of this writing), but in August 2024, the protocol removed this barrier making it completely free to launch tokens. In fact, now you’re rewarded with 0.5 SOL (approximately $95) if you create a token that completes its “bonding curve.”

What is a bonding curve? Once a token is created, its bonding curve will slowly fill as the market cap rises. Once the coin hits a pre-defined market cap, currently $66,000, it will graduate to be traded on Pump.fun-created decentralized exchange PumpSwap. On the exchange, 206,900,000 of the graduating token, as well as 85 SOL—approximately $14,000 at the time of writing—will be added to the liquidity pool.

Pump.fun significantly lowered the barrier for token creation, which previously required would-be devs to acquire some programming chops and raise capital either via friends or a pre-sale.

Which meme coins have been created on Pump.fun?

Some of the largest meme coins of the past couple of years have originated on Pump.fun, including Fartcoin, Peanut the Squirrel, Moo Deng, Chill Guy, and many more. That’s not forgetting the original memes that helped push the platform forward, such as Billy, Michi, and Shark Cat, or the subsequent wave of FWOG, Smoking Chicken Fish, and Reddit Dog.

It has also been the home of a number of tokens launched by celebrities, include Iggy Azalea's MOTHER token, the Andrew Tate-endorsed DADDY, and Jason Derulo’s JASON. It has also spawned a number of tokens following hacks of celebrities and businesses including Kylian Mbappe, Metallica, and McDonalds.

Then, of course, there is the long line of contentious livestream tokens. While some are wholesome attempts at revolutionizing the creator economy, the first token to grab the industry’s attention featured a boy and his alleged mother, who suggestively bounced her breasts on camera. This caused a tidal wave of new streaming tokens to follow, including a “Crack Head Dev” who took a concoction of drugs before he seemingly passed out and faked his own death—before he pivoted to creating racist content.

Most notoriously, one developer named Mikol doused himself in isopropyl alcohol and had fireworks shot at him to pump his token. After being hit a number of times, he went up in flames and was rushed to hospital with third degree burns across 30% of his body.

More recently, the livestreaming feature has matured with teams taking bigger and safer swings. For example, Basedd House is a social media-based reality TV show in which its contestants all live in a frat-like crib, competing to pump their coins to stay on the show. The project’s creator SolJakey told Decrypt that the project was sponsored by Pump.fun, which provided the team with a budget to fund the entire concept.

The PUMP token

In July, Pump.fun raised $600 million via a massive public sale for its PUMP token. Two days later, the token launched and debuted as the 63rd largest cryptocurrency with a near $2 billion market capitalization.

From its 1 trillion token supply, 33% were sold via the initial coin offering, 13% were given to existing investors, and 20% to the Pump.fun team—which now exceeds 70 employees.

In the token announcement, Pump.fun confirmed that an airdrop is “coming soon.” According to the tokenomics, 24% of the supply is allocated for “Community & Ecosystem Initiatives” and 3% for “Livestreaming,” leading to industry-wide speculation that a massive token airdrop for traders, deployers, and streamers is on the cards.

At the time of writing, there is no confirmed date for an airdrop.

Days after the token launch, Pump.fun started to buy back its own token with more than $19 million. As a result, PUMP jumped 18% over 24 hours as it closed in on BONK—the meme coin associated with rival launchpad LetsBonk.

The future of Pump.fun

At the time of writing, Pump.fun is battling yet another challenge from a rival token launchpad, LetsBonk—but this isn’t its first rodeo.

As per co-founder Cohen, going forward Pump.fun is looking to improve the “quality, sustainability, and diversity” of coins created on the platform, double down on its social elements, improve the user experience, and grow its team.

“On-chain trading is a deeply social game where players use the infinite playground of social media to win, whether by cooperating or by gaining an edge over each other,” he said. “Anything that leans into these dynamics makes the game better, and it’s why we’re deeply invested in it.”

Shortly after that statement, Pump.fun announced the acquisition of KOL Scan, a wallet tracker. Cohen added that more acquisitions are in the pipeline.

This article was first published in September 2024 and updated in July 2025.