Pump.fun has driven over 60% of Solana’s transactions in the past three months—raising concerns about whether the network is becoming overly dependent.
According to data from Dune, tokens created on Pump.fun accounted for 62.3% of total transactions on Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEX) in November, even though their trading volume represented only 42.3%. This highlights Pump.fun’s significant role within the Solana ecosystem.
Launched in January this year, Pump.fun initially charged a small fee of a few dollars to create tokens but has since become entirely free. The platform has produced notable meme tokens like PNUT, GOAT, and CHILLGUY.
Controversy and Challenges
Pump.fun has faced significant scrutiny after a series of controversial tokens and incidents, including an unusual case where a mother performed inappropriate acts during a live stream to promote her son’s meme token.
The situation escalated when a meme token developer tragically “took their own life” over the performance of their token. Following this, Pump.fun introduced its own live streaming feature, replacing the use of external platforms like Kick.
Although initially buggy, the feature quickly gained popularity, with users engaging in extreme stunts to earn money—such as sitting on a toilet for days on end.
Impact on Solana
If Pump.fun were to be banned, it could severely impact Solana, as the platform accounted for 62.3% of Solana DEX transactions in November. This reliance has been consistent over the past months, with Pump.fun contributing 60% in September and October and 57% in August.
However, only a small fraction of tokens achieve the target market capitalization of $69,000, sparking concerns about Solana’s dependency on Pump.fun.
Millie, the project lead at TrueMarkets, warned that an economy reliant on Pump.fun is unsustainable, urging the ecosystem to diversify its transaction drivers.
