Trump and Musk Interview Sparks 10,000 Meme Coin ICO Boom on Pump.fun

The event, dubbed the "Pump.fun Olympics" has amassed criticism among users.

Junior Content Creator Harvey Hunter Junior Content Creator Harvey Hunter About Author Harvey Hunter is a Junior Content Creator at Cryptonews.com. With a background in Computer Science, IT, and Mathematics, he seamlessly transitioned from tech geek to crypto journalist. Author Profile Share Copied Last updated: August 13, 2024 01:10 EDT

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The Elon Musk hosted Donald Trump interview on X Spaces triggered a massive influx of meme coin launches on the token launchpad Pump.fun.

Within a three-hour window, an astonishing 10,000 new tokens were launched on the platform.

3 hours. Tens of thousands in the trenches. 10,000 coins.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!? pic.twitter.com/kr7KkmHzVx — pump.fun (@pumpdotfun) August 13, 2024

Pump.fun gained popularity for its ability to enable anyone to create and launch a coin quickly for a small fee.

Once a token launched on Pump.fun reaches a $69,000 market cap, it is automatically listed on the popular Solana decentralized exchange (DEX) Raydium, providing the token with immediate visibility and liquidity in the market.

Recently, the protocol waved this listing fee, instead offering a small payment to the deployer of a successful token.

Developers sought to capitalize on the attention generated by the Elon Musk and Donald Trump interview, banking on the possibility that it would translate into interest and investment in newly launched tokens.

However, according to Dune dashboard data, just 250 tokens graduated off the platform during yesterday’s swell – representing just a 1% success rate.

Pump.fun’s Popularity Backfires: User Frustration Mounts

Over 23,000 tokens were launched over the past 24 hours, racking up a record-breaking $5 million in fees for the platform, over double its previous all-time high of $2.3 million.

Total daily fees on Pump.fun. Source: Dune.

This surge in activity, however, has sparked controversy among the platform’s users. Tyler Stockfield, also known as ANΦN on X, expressed frustration in response to Pump.fun’s tweet, questioning the value of the platform’s current state.

“How is this a good thing anymore?” he wrote, criticizing the platform’s focus on generating fees at the expense of meaningful engagement. “Nobody is having fun anymore besides the Pump Fun team raking in fees.”

Many in the meme coin community feel that the protocol is oversaturating the market, in turn, increasing the number of scams and rug pulls. “It’s definitely changed the game but has made it easier for bad actors to obfuscate and incentivises bad actors way too much,” pseudonymous trader LitBro posted on X.

Beyond the Hype: Pump.fun Faces Calls for Greater Accountability

Alon, the creator of Pump.fun, highlighted that the platform has substantially lowered the barriers for launching a token. The process now takes just one minute instead of 60, and costs $2 rather than $2,000.

pump fun radically lowered the barrier to creating a coin

$2 vs $2,000+, 1min vs. 60min, 3 steps vs 30 steps

whether you like it or not, the market clearly thinks this is a good thing https://t.co/EKrN4sMHVY — alon (@a1lon9) August 12, 2024

However, this reduction in entry requirements has also diminished the incentives for developers to advance their projects, leading to concerns about the quality and legitimacy of the tokens being launched.

“My issue is not necessarily with what Pump Fun is (a token launchpad), it’s more about the fact that they don’t do more to combat scammers,” pseudonymous trader Bizzy posted on X, “Why is there no verification to add a Twitter? Why aren’t there better filter options to help identify and avoid scams?”

In response to these issues, Pump.fun has implemented several updates aimed at safeguarding users. In May, the platform integrated the on-chain visualizer Bubblemaps to allow users to research the holders of a token’s supply.

More recently, Pump.fun has begun offering a 0.5 SOL reward to deployers of successful meme coins, an initiative intended to reduce the incidence of rug pulls.

Despite these measures, skepticism remains among users about the platform’s effectiveness in addressing the proliferation of scams.

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