PUMP has risen even after a large token unlock, while Pump.fun has so far avoided an obvious loss of users or market share following Robinhood Chain’s push into the launchpad market.
That combination has put the Solana-based Meme coin platform back in focus at a time when much of the crypto market remains under pressure and many projects are dealing with weaker revenue or leaving the market altogether. Pump.fun, by contrast, remains one of the few major protocols still generating substantial profit.
PUMP rose instead of falling after the unlock
Large unlocks are usually expected to bring selling pressure. PUMP moved the other way. Since a major unlock in mid-July, the token has climbed rather than declined. CoinGecko data cited in the report showed PUMP’s maximum gain over the past 30 days was about 47.9%.
On July 14, PUMP began its first large unlock for team members and investors after its token generation event, releasing more than $86 million worth of tokens. Before that event, the market had been concerned that investors could sell aggressively once the supply became available.
Lbexplorer’s latest analysis suggested that selling was limited. Of 79 investor wallets linked to Pump.fun, only 3 had sold investor-allocated tokens. The biggest sale came from a wallet holding 625 million PUMP, which realized about $1.2825 million. The other two wallets sold a combined amount slightly above $100,000. Over the past 13 days, investors sold about 770 million PUMP worth roughly $1.574 million. By that measure, around 92% of investor-allocated tokens had still not been sold.
A second source of support came from the platform’s buyback-and-burn program. According to Pump.fun’s website, the platform has burned more than 15.45 million PUMP in total, valued at more than $416 million, or about 15.4% of total supply. Over the past 7 days alone, Pump.fun bought back and burned about 2.236 billion PUMP worth around $4.359 million.
Still, that support has become less powerful than before. The report noted that buybacks can help in the short term, but the longer-term effect depends on whether the platform can keep growing revenue. Recent data showed daily buyback funding had dropped from a previous peak of more than $3.06 million to about $690,000, a decline of roughly 77.5%.
That drop reflects two developments mentioned in the report. Pump.fun had earlier revised its tokenomics and cut the share of revenue used for PUMP buybacks and burns to 50%. At the same time, weaker market conditions have hurt platform revenue. Daily revenue fell from a historical high of nearly $5.2 million to about $1.608 million, down roughly 69.1%.
Still one of the market’s strongest cash generators, but no escape from the cycle
Compared with most crypto protocols, Pump.fun is still posting strong profitability and remains one of the few major projects in a bear market with stable cash flow. DeFiLlama data showed that as of July 30, the platform’s annualized revenue stood at about $450 million. On a daily revenue basis, it ranked behind only Tether, Circle, and Hyperliquid, accounting for nearly 4.2% of total crypto market revenue. The report also said Pump.fun’s monthly revenue has generally stayed above $30 million this year.
At one point recently, Pump.fun’s revenue even exceeded that of perpetual DEX leader Hyperliquid. Co-founder Sapijiju said Pump.fun’s long-term total addressable market would exceed the global perpetual futures market where Hyperliquid operates, adding that it is “much larger… just not proven yet.”
The team has also collected significant fee income. Since the start of 2024, Pump.fun has sold about 4.812 million SOL in fee revenue, worth more than $810 million, mainly generated from its 1% trading fee.
Even so, the platform is still far from its peak. Dune data showed that as of July 30, Pump.fun’s weekly trading volume was only about 17% of its historical high, while daily active addresses had fallen to 38.1% of peak levels. Cooling trading activity has fed directly into weaker revenue. Dune data cited in the report showed current daily revenue is only about 30% of the platform’s peak period.
Those figures point to the same core issue: Pump.fun’s business model still depends heavily on market sentiment and Meme coin enthusiasm, leaving revenue growth strongly cyclical.
Lawsuit and compliance pressure remain in view
Pump.fun is also dealing with a class-action lawsuit. The allegations mentioned in the report include insider priority trading, manipulation of the Meme coin market, sales of unregistered securities, and violations related to RICO laws. Against that backdrop, Pump.fun parent Baton Corporation announced in late June that it was hiring a chief legal officer with a base salary of $1 million to $5 million. The role covers regulatory matters, product counseling, corporate governance, and cross-border compliance.
Robinhood Chain has entered the field, but Pump.fun has not yet lost clear share
Bear market pressure is not the only challenge. Robinhood Chain’s move into the launchpad market has created a fresh competitive threat. Dune data showed Robinhood Chain’s launchpad recorded $1.23 billion in trading volume last week, above Pump.fun’s $447 million over the same period and close to Pumpswap’s $1.22 billion.
On active addresses, Robinhood Chain’s launchpad reached about 191,000 during the same period, while Pump.fun, still the leading player in the Solana ecosystem, posted about 141,000.
Even so, the report said Robinhood Launchpad has not yet clearly eaten into Pump.fun’s market share. Pump.fun has continued to show growth in both trading volume and active addresses in recent data. The open question is how long its lead in Meme coin issuance can hold as more competitors enter the market.
BOOST lifts activity and also draws criticism
To strengthen its position, Pump.fun recently introduced a new standard launch mechanism called BOOST. The stated goal is to improve the problem of dead liquidity created when tokens migrate from the bonding curve to liquidity pools. Co-founder Alon Cohen said the mechanism can add about 20% more liquidity to each newly migrated token without changing the trading experience on either the bonding curve or the liquidity pool. Over time, he said, it will inject hundreds of millions of dollars in liquidity into the ecosystem.
After the change, market activity improved. Dune data showed the platform’s weekly token graduation rate climbed to 3.7%, up from just 0.67% at the start of the year. Average daily token creation also moved above 36,000, near the highest level in almost 4 months.
Some community members, however, argued that the mechanism effectively gives near-graduation tokens free buy pressure and a deflationary effect, sharply lowering the cost of bundling and encouraging traders to push prices higher. Under that view, developers could use the mechanism to package bundled tokens that are about to graduate, manufacture liquidity and trading momentum, attract retail traders, and extract profits. Critics say that could lead to more low-quality tokens built around bundling and short-term speculation.
For now, the broader picture remains unchanged. Pump.fun’s revenue flywheel is still tied to Meme market heat and speculative capital flows. That structure can produce large cash flows when trading is hot, but it also leaves both platform revenue and PUMP’s price performance exposed to market cycles.