Solana Memecoins Take a Dive as Pump.fun Token Launch Sparks Sell-Off

Solana's meme coin frenzy hits a speed bump—Pump.fun's latest token rollout triggers a market-wide retreat. Traders scramble as speculative froth meets reality.

Who could've predicted that hyper-volatile assets might, you know, actually be volatile? Another day in crypto's casino economy.

In response, Pump.fun launched several initiatives to sustain growth. In February. they released a mobile app, enabling users to monitor their preferred memecoins and track their trades with ease. In March, they introduced the PumpSwap DEX, replacing its earlier reliance on Raydium for memecoin trading infrastructure. Earlier this month, they also introduced a revenue-sharing model that gives 50% of trading fees to devs.

Despite the cooldown in memecoin activity since January, Pump.fun remains one of DeFi’s top earners. In May, it generated $46.6 million in revenue—down 66% from its January peak of $137.12 million, yet still well above pre-November 2024 levels. To put it into perspective, derivatives trading behemoth Hyperliquid generated $65.5 million in May, only 28% ahead of Pump.fun, which underscores the platform’s strength despite slowdown in memecoin activity.

It’s still unclear what the Pump.fun token will be used for. For now, any assumptions about its function—whether as a fee token, governance asset, or trading pair—are purely speculative. Until more information is released, the token’s actual significance remains unclear.

That being said, SOL has declined 2% following the news, while Solana-based memecoins have experienced steeper losses: Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) fell 7% in the past 24 hours, Bonk (BONK) dropped 5%, and Popcat (POPCAT) slid 12%.