What Is Pump.fun and How Does It Work?

Memecoins lie at the convergence between internet culture, speculative trading and blockchain technology. They’re an attractive use case in a fast, expanding, and volatile market that directly incentivizes meme culture.

We’ve previously covered memecoins in detail, and if you’re interested in how to trade memes, there are few better places to begin your journey than on Pump.fun. 

Pump.fun on the Solana blockchain is one of the most popular destinations for memecoin traders with tens of thousands of coins created every day, and weekly volume regularly surpassing the billion dollar mark.

In this article, Ledger Academy takes a deeper dive into Pump.fun, the basics of creating a memecoin, and how to buy and sell tokens on the platform.

What Is Pump.fun?

Pump.fun is a crypto trading platform enabling users to create, buy and hold, or sell memecoins on Solana.

Prior to the launch of platforms such as Pump.fun, token creation required programming skills or hiring a team of developers with a full understanding of smart contracts and significant capital outlays for initial liquidity.

Thanks to Pump.fun, anyone with a Solana wallet and basic internet skills can launch their own memecoin in a few clicks.

How Does Pump.fun Work?

Pump.fun is a one-stop shop for the creation and trading of Solana memecoins. The platform works on a bonding curve system; a mathematical model determining the price of a token based on supply and demand.

Each launch on Pump.fun generates a billion tokens with 800 million allocated to the bonding curve and its strict mathematical formula. The price of the token increases exponentially the further along the curve it progresses, incentivizing users to buy early. 

When the 800 million tokens are sold, the bonding curve process is complete and the token ‘graduates’ to the decentralized exchange (DEX) PumpSwap. The dollar value of the graduation cap has varied as the Solana price fluctuates, so while the initial figure was $69,000 it is currently closer to $50,000.

The History of Pump.fun

The initial launch of Pump.fun came in January 2024 with the intention of simplifying the process of token creation and trading.

Pump.fun has no publicly-named creator or public face, with the group behind it commonly referred to by the pseudonym Alon. Pseudonymous creators are fairly standard in crypto, the practice dating back to Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.

Tokens on Pump.fun originally graduated to the Raydium DEX, but in March 2025 the Pump.fun team launched PumpSwap, bringing the graduation process in-house.

The Rise of Pump.fun

In May 2024 daily revenues on Pump.fun surpassed $1 million for the first time, pointing to increasing popularity and user adoption. 

Daily revenues on Pump.fun remained steady through most of 2024, but experienced a considerable uptick through November coinciding with Solana price increases. On November 23, daily revenue hit $14.3 million, and on January 24, 2025, Pump.fun daily revenues hit an all-time-high of $15.8 million.

Pump.fun’s Successes and Challenges

Pump.fun stands at the forefront of the sector thanks to its simplicity and design, quickly establishing itself as the go-to destination for memecoin traders.

Pump.fun is a “fair launch” platform, because the process is designed to promote openness, equal opportunity, and fairness. 

A free launch prevents presales, team allocations and other ‘unfair’ practices, but while this minimizes the risk profile the system is not foolproof. For this reason traders should proceed at their own discretion and only after doing their own research.

Controversies and Criticisms

With no utility to bring out actual value out of any given token, memecoin trades are highly speculative. The success of any individual trader is determined by their ability to buy early, to hold as it rises in value, and sell before the token price falls.

Want to know the actual amount of rugpulls and pump and dumps there are on Pump.fun right now? A recent Solidus Labs report places it at a staggering 98.6%. This means no amount of research on any given meme token can place it as a legit ‘investment’ to your portfolio.

The majority of coins, even those that are initially successful, eventually trend toward zero. This has given rise to criticism, with some commentators disparagingly referring to Pump.fun as a “memecoin casino.”

Functionality of Pump.fun

The core features of Pump.fun are memecoin creation, tracking and trading. This is supported by trading charts and search tools.

Pump.fun is navigated with a menu on the left hand side, and a search bar at the centre and top.

Halfway down the page, a Now Trending ticker shows the most popular recent memecoins. Underneath this is the trending token filter which aggregates popular token trends – known to memecoin traders as “metas” – and may include topics such as “dogs,” “ai” or “tesla.”

There is also an Advanced tab on the left which brings up a screen displaying newly created tokens, tokens which are about to graduate, and featured tokens. On this same page is a Watchlist column on the right hand side, used for displaying a user-curated list of tracked tokens.

Memecoin Creation

How to make a coin on Pump.fun

Step 1: Connect Your Wallet

The first stage of interacting with Pump.fun is to connect a Solana-compatible wallet to the platform.

At the top right hand of the screen is the Login button. This reveals sign-in options including email or socials, but the best option is to click on your chosen trading wallet.

Once you have selected a sign-in method you should receive a prompt from your wallet asking you to input your password. Enter this and a pop-up will ask you to confirm or cancel. Click on Confirm.

If you haven’t interacted with Pump.fun before you’ll now be asked to create a name for your user profile on the platform. If you’re at all conscious about operational security choose a pseudonym that can’t be used to personally identify you.

Step 2: Create a Memecoin

Create a new coin by clicking [start a new coin] at the top and center of the page. A token name, ticker, description and image should be the minimum for any new token. 

Memecoin traders usually expect a little more information than this, and if you want to make your memecoin the next $1 billion market cap you should at least provide a link to the token’s supporting media and social media.

Click on show more options above the Create Coin button and input a Telegram link, a website link and X link if you have them. Then click Create Coin.

At the completion of this process you will be invited to buy some of your newly minted token, although this isn’t mandatory.

Step 3: Achieve Market Cap Milestones

The next step for any memecoin is to reach graduation. This is perhaps the most difficult stage of the process, either requiring significant capital or a strong community of interested participants.

Clicking on any token in Pump.fun, either on the main page or via the advanced display (accessible via the left side menu), will bring up the page for that specific coin. This shows the coin name, its current market cap and the chart for that coin.

On the right hand side of the screen you will also see the buy and sell pane, with the bonding curve progress displayed as a percentage just below this.

With a bonding curve of 99% this token is ready to graduate to PumpSwap.

Memecoin Trading

How to buy on Pump.fun

Step 1: Connect Your Wallet

As above, connect your wallet to Pump.fun using the Login button in the top right hand of the screen.

If you’re already connected to Pump.fun the Login button will be replaced with your username and your current Solana balance.

Step 2: Choose a Memecoin

Selecting a memecoin is possible either from the main screen here:

Or on the advanced page here:

Once you’ve selected a memecoin you’d like to own, click on it to enter that token’s page. As long as the token hasn’t already graduated to PumpSwap, you’ll see the trading chart with its green and red candles.

Step 3: Buy Meme Tokens on Pump.fun

To the right of the token page is the buy and sell pane. In the dialogue box labeled Balance enter the number of Solana you’d like to spend on this memecoin.

Pump.fun will immediately calculate the amount of tokens you will receive for your intended purchase. Since this is only a demonstration we’ll enter a small amount of 0.1 SOL and press the Place Trade button. 

Pump.fun will execute the trade once you confirm the transaction with your wallet.

Click Confirm if you really mean it.

Step 4: Sell Your Memecoins

The process for selling tokens is much the same. On the buy and sell pane click Sell, changing the color code from green to red.

Now decide how much of the token you want to sell. We’ll sell 100% of the token and click Place Trade. As before your wallet will ask you to confirm the transaction.

If you’re really sure, click Confirm.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Pump.fun

Advantages of Pump.fun

Pump.fun has extremely low barriers to entry so even mid-curve traders can dip their toe in the memecoin waters. 

Accessibility

As of December 2024, Pump.fun is not accessible from UK IP addresses.

Ease of Use

Anyone with a compatible Solana wallet and a small outlay of capital can quickly onboard to Pump.fun and start trading.

Low Transaction Fees

Transactions fees on Pump.fun are 1% of the total value of the purchase or sale. Therefore a $100 trade incurs a $1 fee.

Bonding Curve Model

The cost of a memecoin on Pump.fun increases incrementally as more tokens are purchased and holders increase. This process is called the bonding curve model.

Instant Liquidity

Memecoins on Pump.fun are immediately tradable with instant liquidity.

Fair Launch Mechanism

The platform is ‘fair launch’ meaning no presales or team allocations. 

Disadvantages of Pump.fun

High Volatility

Any criticism of the wider cryptocurrency market, such as high volatility and market speculation, applies tenfold to memecoins. With potentially high rewards comes inherently high risk.

Rug Pulls

While Pump.fun’s explicit goal is to promote “fair launch” tokens, this does not eliminate the prospect of rug pulls which demands vigilance from traders.

Low Liquidity

Memecoins frequently have low liquidity, meaning profit extraction is not always straightforward. Coins with liquidity less than 10% of the market cap are generally to be avoided.

Limited Appeal for Serious Projects

Serious projects may baulk at the prospect of launching on a readymade memecoin platform, preferring instead to cook/develop from scratch.

Abusive Content and Platform Misuse

Due to Pump.fun’s accessibility and the fact it is built on censorship-resistant blockchain technology, tokens on the platform offer a fully uncensored view of internet culture both good and bad.  A filter on the main page of Pump.fun allows users to switch off content deemed not safe for work (nsfw).

Regulatory Concerns

Pump.fun is geolocked in the UK due to regulatory concerns. 

Top Memecoins Created on Pump.fun

Fartcoin (FARTCOIN)

Fartcoin launched on Pump.fun in October 2024, peaking at a market cap of $2.4 billion in January 2025. Fartcoin’s success spawned a thousand imitator fart coins but most of them didn’t linger, vanishing faster than hot air in a sudden gust of wind.

Act I The AI Prophecy (ACT)

The mission statement of ACT is to push the limits of AI through decentralization and multi-AI, multi-human interaction.

Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT)

A token dedicated to the loveable rodent and instagram star, Peanut the Squirrel, whose short life of nut-smuggling and wearing cute accessories was brought to an abrupt end by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. RIP Peanut.

Comedian (BAN)

A memecoin dedicated to Maurizio Cattelan’s 2019 artwork Comedian, which was a Banana duct-taped to a wall. A concept ripe for memification. 

Goatseus Maximus (GOAT)

Goatseus Maximus is a meme token celebrating the internet’s favorite shock image ‘Goatse.’ 

Fwog (FWOG)

Fwog is a true phoenix from the ashes story, except the phoenix in question isn’t a bird, but a three-eyed amphibian originally called $FLOG. When the original team behind Flog rugged its users the community rallied and relaunched the project as $FWOG.

Unicorn Fart Dust (UFD)

Gold-enthusiast Ronald Branstetter created Unicorn Fart Dust to prove just how worthless memecoins are. The crypto community did the rest, powering the token to a staggering $240 million market cap just days after its launch.

The Future of Pump.fun

Pump.fun AMM

Tokens on Pump.fun previously graduated to Raydium, but since March 2025 memecoins instead graduate to PumpSwap, the native automated market maker (AMM) for the ecosystem.

Potential Pump.fun Airdrop

In October of 2024 a team member raised the possibility of a future airdrop Pump.fun token during an X Spaces event. As yet, there is no confirmation of when this airdrop might occur or what the eligibility requirements will be. If past airdrops of crypto tokens offer a guide, some use and interaction with the platform would be a minimum qualification.

Conclusion

Pump.fun is among the first destinations for memecoin traders and remains at the forefront of the space. By following this guide you should now have the basic necessary skills to buy, sell and even create Solana memecoins on Pump.fun. 

You can also purchase and trade all the Solana memecoins in this article via Ledger Live and store them on your Ledger Flex or Ledger Stax for ease of use and best security through self-custody. Just remember to trade responsibly as you enter this extremely fast-moving and exciting market for yourself. Good luck and happy hunting.

Frequently Asked Questions about Pump.fun

What is Pump.fun?

Pump.fun is a platform for the creation and trading of Solana memecoins.

How much money does Pump.fun make?

Pump.fun has made hundreds of millions of dollars since its inception.

Who is the owner of Pumpfun?

Pump.fun is owned by the pseudonymous Alon.

Can you make money on Pump.fun?

With a bit of skill or a lot of luck, you can make money on Pump.fun.

How much does it cost to make a coin on Pump Fun?

Nothing. Zilch. Nada.

Is Pump.Fun free?

Some of the features on Pump.fun are free, such as minting new coins. Buying and selling coins incurs a 1% fee. On top of this is the Solana network fee, which is typically around $0.01.