Overview
Pump.fun is a meme-coin launchpad on Solana, launched in January 2024 by Alon Cohen, Noah Tweedale and Dylan Kerler. Anyone can create a new token in seconds for a tiny fee, with no coding.
It became one of crypto’s biggest businesses: millions of tokens launched, and over $775 million in lifetime revenue. In July 2025, it sold its PUMP token, raising about $600 million in a matter of minutes.
How it works
- A creator launches a token, which starts on a bonding curve: the price rises automatically as people buy.
- When enough is bought, the token “graduates” to PumpSwap, Pump.fun’s own exchange, with a regular trading pool.
- Pump.fun earns a fee on trades and launches.
In 2026, Pump.fun restored its iOS app in the US and India and introduced automatic Holder Rewards for token holders.
Buybacks
Pump.fun uses a large share of its revenue to buy back PUMP, at times $1–2 million per day. By 2026, buybacks had removed roughly 15–20% of the supply, depending on the measure.
The PUMP token
| PUMP at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Maximum supply | 1 trillion PUMP |
| In circulation (Oct 2026) | about 460 billion |
| Price (29 Oct 2026) | about $0.0045 |
| All-time high | about $0.0088 (September 2025) |
| Market cap | about $2.1 billion (#51) |
Controversies and risks
- Lawsuit. A class action, expanded in 2026 to include the Solana Foundation, accuses Pump.fun of running a casino-like system and enabling insider trading. The claims are unproven.
- User losses. The vast majority of tokens launched on Pump.fun quickly lose almost all value; many users lose money.
- Past incidents. In 2024, a former employee exploited a bug to take about $1.9 million, and the platform paused livestreams after disturbing content.
- Revenue swings. Weekly revenue fell from over $50 million at the 2025 peak to a few million in quiet periods.
- Competition. Rival launchpads (LetsBonk, Raydium’s LaunchLab, new chains) compete for volume.
Pump.fun vs. the competition
| Pump.fun | Bonk (letsBONK) | Meteora | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Meme launchpad + DEX | Meme coin + launchpad | DEX with launch pools |
| Chain | Solana | Solana | Solana |
| Token value | Revenue buybacks | Fees to BONK treasury | Governance |
Our verdict
Pump.fun is a hugely profitable business that returns much of its income to PUMP through buybacks, rare among tokens. But it depends on meme mania, faces serious legal claims, and the coins launched on it are mostly losing bets. PUMP is a high-risk investment, and trading new meme coins on the platform is a gamble. Invest only what you can afford to lose.
This review is for information only and is not financial advice.