In September 2024, Solana-based protocol Pump.fun became the fastest growing crypto app in history by some metrics, surging to $100 million in revenue in record time.

The meme coin launchpad has birthed some of the biggest memes, viral metas, and dangerous moments in crypto history, including a cute dog named Billy, 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 pseudonymous founder Alon 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 1 million tokens, and been responsible for up to 67.5% of daily token launches on Solana.

One of Pump.fun’s most controversial features is its built-in live streaming function. This came after a wave of meme coin developers streamed on Kick and Telegram as they did funny, weird, and downright dangerous stunts to pump their tokens. This has resulted in a new wave of polarizing streams.

Since launch, it has fended off rival protocols that also allow users to launch tokens for cheap. Players like DEX Screener’s Moonshot and a Twitter-based Makenowmeme both tried and failed to topple Pump.fun from its throne, while controversial Tron creator Justin Sun had more success with SunPump, which poached some market share from the protocol.

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.

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 (~$80) 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 market cap of $69,000, it will graduate to be traded on decentralized exchange Raydium with $12,000 worth of liquidity.

Which meme coins have been created on Pump.fun?

Some of the largest meme coins of 2024 originated on Pump.fun, including Billy (BILLY) which peaked around a market cap of $218 million, Michi (MICHI) peaking at $321 million, and Shark Cat (SC) which hit $350 million.

More recently, it has birthed viral tokens like FWOG (FWOG), Smoking Chicken Fish (SCF), and Reddit Dog (r/snoofi). 

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 are 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.

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. 

The future of Pump.fun

At the time of writing, Pump.fun appears to have fended off a challenge from rival meme coin factory SunPump, which at one point flipped Pump.fun in terms of daily meme coin traders. Since then, Pump.fun has clawed its way back to dominance.

But this momentary blip showed that meme coin traders have an appetite for other meme coin launchpads—they won’t stay loyal without a reason to. Possibly for that reason, the Pump.fun protocol has continued to evolve. 

As Makenowmeme appeared with lower fees, Pump.fun followed with an update to remove its own fees. Amid the emergence of SunPump, Pump.fun leaned into its streaming feature by allowing multiple people to stream at the same time—akin to Twitter Spaces for meme coins.

The protocol has also attracted negative attention. In May 2024, Pump.fun suffered an attack from a disgruntled employee. Jarett Dunn drained an estimated $2 million worth of Solana and sent the funds to random addresses before going on a Twitter spree claiming he wanted to “kill” the platform because it had “inadvertently hurt people.” He was arrested in London a few days later. In August 2024, Dunn pled guilty to fraud by way of an abuse of position, as well as transfer of criminal property.

As for what is next, it’s hard to tell. Pump.fun’s updates come out of the blue and there is no white paper or roadmap. It’s likely the platform will continue to react to competition, adding new features and tweaking current ones in a bid to retain its competitive edge.