Is Pump.fun’s Grip of 80% on Solana Memecoins Durable?

The key takeaways

• One-click minting, bonding-curve “graduation” Pump.fun grew its share from 75%-80% to as high as 80%, thanks to the LPs’ concentrated liquid.

• Both launches and fees follow a cyclical pattern. Activity rebounded by the end of August after falling 80% since January’s highs.

• Incentives or fees can help rivals (LetsBonk HeavenDEX Raydium LaunchLab, etc.) to gain share, but the network effect often slows down activity.

• Most of the durability issues are caused by security incidents and US-class action lawsuits (including RICO).

Pump.fun This native Solana launchpad makes it easy to launch tokens with a couple of clicks.

On, new coins will be released. bonding-curve contractApproximately 800 million tokens were sold one after the other. The tokens are no longer available once the initial supply of 800 million is sold. “graduates,” Automated market makers (AMM) will take over the trading. This is Pump.fun today decentralized exchange (DEX)PumpSwap, (previous releases migrated to Raydium).

The cost for creators is very low. The cost of minting is free, while the fee for graduation only amounts to 0.015 solana.SOL() is deducted directly from the liquidity of the token, rather than being paid separately.

PumpSwap Burns The Graduation Certificate liquidity provider (LP) tokens Linking liquidity to a trading pair effectively locks it so that the money cannot be withdrawn by hand. Only regular trading can move funds. The design allows for early pricing discovery of new memecoins, while reducing the overall cost. traditional rug-pull risks.

Did you Know? The tokens are a very small fraction. “graduate.” The graduation rate in July and August of 2025 will be around 0.7% to 0.8%.

How Pump.fun took 80% of Solana’s memecoin launch

The dominance of Pump.fun was due to the combination of ultra-low friction token creation and a standard path to liquidation.

By routing new tokens via a bonding curve into an AMM Pump.fun improved early price discovery and decreased one of the primary ways that creators can rug-pull. The Solana meme started to gain momentum, and that design became dominant: by mid-August, 2025, the Pump.fun AMM was dominating. recaptured roughly 73%-74% of launchpad activity Seven days is the maximum time frame.

In July, LetsBonk challenged the lead. In July, challenger LetsBonk briefly flipped Pump.fun on volume and revenue Before momentum swinging back (proof of deployers moving quickly to where execution and liquidity looks best).

Pump.fun has strengthened its leadership with two key policy shifts. These include aggressive buybacks funded by revenue of the Pump.fun token (some weeks consuming 90% or more of revenue), and a redesigned creator-payout program under “Project Ascend.” Public Disclosures indicate Repurchases of up to $1 million per week and an eight-figure earner claimsThey likely had a positive impact on attracting deployers, and regaining momentum.

External trackers have consistently shown Pump.fun to hold around 75%-80% of the market in 2025. “graduated” Solana launchpad tokens during market upswings — a level it returned to in August after the July dip.

Did you Know? Solana’s fee stayed at pennies or even less during times of madness. The median fee hovered at $0.001 in Q2 2025 despite an increase during January’s Official Trump.TRUMP) token frenzy.

Quick timeline for share and revenues

• Jan. 24-26, 2025: Pump.fun reaches a daily fee record around $15,4 million at the height of Solana’s meme season.

• The late January-Feb. 26 2025 timeframe: The number of daily launches dropped from 1,200 per day (Jan.23-24) to 200/day on Feb.26, a drop of 80% or more based upon Dune cohorts.

• May 16-17-2024 Insider exploit Around $1.9 million in repairs is needed to restore service.

• July 2025 New rival LetsBonk briefly tops Pump.fun in 24-hour revenue and market share — the first meaningful flip since Pump.fun’s breakout.

• Aug. 8, 2025: Launches of Pump.fun “Glass Full Foundation” To support certain listings when revenue is down.

• The dates of August 11-21 2025 are: On a 7-day basis the market shares bounce back at around 74%, hitting $13.5million in record weekly volume and multiple billions of dollars. As rivals decline, some trackers display intraday highs of near 90%.

• Aug. 20, 2025: The cumulative fees have exceeded $800,000,000, highlighting the size of the Pump.fun model in spite of volatility.

• Sept. 2025 Under Project Ascend, creators claim over $16 million, while the team continues aggressive buybacks — widely credited with helping restore traction.

Pump.fun has a cyclical dominance, which is resilient. Launches and fees fall sharply when sentiment is low. When incentives and liquidity improve, its share tends to rebound — often landing in the 70%-80% range on seven-day metrics.

Rivals “anti-Pump” The following are some examples of how to get started:

Competition has focused on economy and liquidity. LetsBonk temporarily stole the limelight in July. Some trackers showed it leading in the market before Pump.fun took the lead again in August. The coverage referred to it as Pump.fun “fending off” A credible challenge

Raydium LaunchLab became the alternative for Pump.fun after it stopped grading its pools to Raydium. LaunchLab leveraged Raydium’s native liquidity infrastructure — migrating new tokens directly into Raydium AMM pools — to attract creators and algorithmic traders seeking deep, established liquidity.

Heaven DEX, a new challenger to the game Heaven (Heaven), was introduced. “give-it-back” Model that burned 100% of the platform revenue and handled, for some time, around 15% of all daily launches. It was the most formidable rival of Pump.fun during the summer’s share battles.

Switching costs are minimal. Employers will choose the venue that offers the right mix of incentives, fees and liquidity after graduation. If rivals increase incentives or reduce fees, the market can quickly shift.

Risk, including security, and the market cycle

Pump.fun was not immune to challenges.

Security incidents

There have been notable security incidents at Pump.fun. An ex-employee used their privileged account to withdraw nearly $1.9M in May 2024. There was a temporary trading suspension and the redeployment of contracts, but the team claimed that all the contracts were still safe. Its official X Account was shut down on February 26, 2025. hijacked to promote a fake “PUMP” token — a reminder of social-engineering vulnerabilities in memecoin platforms.

Legal overhang

In several civil suits in the US, Pump.fun is accused of being responsible for a number of accidents. facilitated the sale of unregistered securities. The RICO Act (Racketeer Induced Corrupt Organizations) was added to the complaint in a July 2025 amended version. New defendants were also named. Although the outcome is still uncertain, this litigation may change how launchpads handle listings, disclosures, and revenue programs.

Cyclical demand

As we have discussed, the launch count and fees revenues are a reflection of retail’s risk appetite. The month of July 2025 was a weaker start than the first half. revenue dropped to about $25 millionAround 80% of the January peak was lost before summer activity began to pick up. The interest in memecoins varies naturally over time.

Reputation risk

It hasn’t gone away. One case involved a Wired journalist’s hacked X accounts. used to create a Pump.fun token and cash out within minutes — adding pressure on platforms to improve account security, tighten verification and discourage opportunistic launches.

Did you Know? One compliance firm claimed around 98%-99% of Pump.fun tokens fit pump-and-dump/rug-pull patterns — an assessment Pump.fun disputed.

Can Pump.fun maintain its edge?

The flywheel will hold

Pump.fun’s August rebound to roughly three-quarters of new Solana launches suggests the core loop — low friction, standardized “graduation” liquidity and trader concentration — is still intact. The dominance of the market could be maintained even during slower phases if buybacks, creator incentives and other factors continue to strengthen that cycle.

When the grip slips

The month of July demonstrated how quickly momentum can change when one competitor undercuts the fees charged or recruits deployer robots. In the midst of litigation, there is an additional layer that could lead to changes in listings, disclosures and revenue programs.

Watch out for these key metrics

• Launchpad (weekly share) Follow Pump.fun’s share against rivals in the world. “graduated” Trading volumes and tokens. The moat may be holding steady, but consistent declines indicate erosion.

• Purchases of buyback and incentives: Check weekly for buybacks, and pay creators. Support that is visible and sustained often precedes a recovery in market share.

• Taxes and Graduation Policy Any adjustment to creation or graduation fees — or how liquidity is handled — can quickly alter deployer behavior.

• Solana backdrop: Be sure to monitor the DEX Volume and Total Value Locked (TVL). The thinner liquidity will reduce post-graduation trading depths and traders’ stickiness.

• Milestones in the law: Keep up with the latest developments regarding the consolidation class action. A negative ruling could trigger changes to operations or limit growth.

This article contains no investment recommendations or advice. Each investment or trading decision involves some risk. Readers should do their own research before making any decisions.