Pump.fun earns millions as 81% of memecoins lose 90%

Pump.fun generated about $18.6 million in protocol revenue during the seven days through Oct. 7, while a Talos study found that 81% of sampled memecoins had fallen at least 90% from their all-time highs.

Talos analyzed 150 memecoins in its survival analysis and 151 for return comparisons. Each token had to have price data on at least one centralized exchange, excluding many launchpad tokens that never secured such a listing.

The median token reached its peak about 17 days after exchange trading began. Talos defined a collapse as a 95% decline from the eventual high and estimated that the median token took about 370 days to reach that level.

Only five of the 151 tokens in the return sample remained above their first-day prices. In its analysis of major Solana memecoins, Talos found that active addresses holding at least $1 had declined to no more than 7% of their respective peaks.

About two-thirds of the Solana-era memecoins in the study did not produce a meaningful second rally after their initial rise.

Pump.fun earns revenue from transactions across its ecosystem. Trading can continue to generate fees when users sell one declining token and buy another.

DefiLlama data showed that traders paid about $52.5 million in Pump.fun fees during the seven days through Oct. 7. About $18.64 million went to the protocol. Over 30 days, total fees reached approximately $184.5 million, while protocol revenue was about $60.7 million.

Pump.fun distributes portions of trading income among the protocol, token creators and recipients connected to liquidity. Designated platform revenue also funds buybacks and burns of the PUMP token. DefiLlama recorded about $8.45 million in PUMP burns over seven days and $27.29 million over 30 days. Pump.fun has committed part of that revenue to buying and burning PUMP for one year starting in April.

The distributions do not directly restore the value of a separate memecoin. Its recovery depends on new demand, available liquidity and a price increase large enough to offset losses.

Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen wrote that more than 140,000 users collectively received about $4.46 million during a recent 24-hour period. The amount included $730,000 in Holder Rewards, $330,000 in Callout Rewards and $3.4 million in creator fees.

Creator fees go to people behind tokens, Callout Rewards compensate eligible promoters or contributors, and Holder Rewards apply to qualifying coins. The payments do not automatically reach every person holding a token launched on Pump.fun.

A holder can receive a distribution and still lose money if the token’s price falls faster than the rewards accumulate. PUMP holders face separate market risk, and the token does not represent a contractual claim on Pump.fun’s revenue. Scheduled token unlocks may add supply while burns reduce the number of tokens in circulation.