The Changing of Power: The Rise and Fall of Memecoin Issuance Platforms

"The king is dead, long live the king." This phrase captures the essence of the transfer of power. Power, like water, always flows to new vessels. The former overlord may quickly become a page in history. This kind of replacement often comes swiftly and ruthlessly.

In the field of memecoin issuance platforms on the Solana chain, we are witnessing a power transfer. The former dominant player Pump.fun has seen its market share drop from 88% to just 13%, while the emerging challenger Let'sBONK has captured 86% of the market. This is not only another manifestation of volatility in the crypto world, but also a classic case of empire collapse: when the ultimate moat is overlooked as attention, even the greatest first-mover advantage can disappear in an instant.

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The Rise and Fall of the Pump.fun Empire

Pump.fun was launched by three young people in January 2024, and it disrupts the issuance logic of meme coins with its simple operation. Users can issue a coin at a cost of less than $2 by simply uploading an image and giving it a name, without any programming knowledge.

This satisfies an underlying impulse to turn "worthless" into "valuable." By January 2025, Pump.fun generated over $458 million in revenue, with thousands of new coins launched daily, peaking at over $7 million in daily revenue.

However, the tragedy began with one of its most innovative features: live streaming. To gain attention, some users engaged in extreme behaviors during live broadcasts, even leading to incidents where underage users threatened their family with guns. This forced Pump.fun to shut down its live streaming feature, but its reputation was already damaged. Weekly revenue plummeted by 66%, and competitors started to take advantage of the situation.

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Faced with declining revenue and competitive pressure, Pump.fun decided to self-rescue through token issuance. This ICO was technically successful, raising $500 million in 12 minutes, along with $700 million in private placements. However, a deeper analysis reveals that most of the shares were consumed by a few wallets, with full unlock and only short-term transfer restrictions set.

The token price initially surged by 75%, but soon began to decline, displaying a typical "death spiral" trend. There are also issues with the tokenomics design, as the project team holds most of the tokens, and the allocation timeline is unclear.

The final blow came when co-founder Alon Cohen publicly announced the cancellation of the long-promised airdrop. This further undermined user confidence at a time when community trust was already most fragile, resulting in a 15% drop in token price within 24 hours.

The Rise of Let'sBONK

When Pump.fun keeps making mistakes, Let'sBONK is quietly building everything that the competitors lack: transparency, community orientation, and clear communication.

Currently, Let'sBONK's daily revenue has reached 1.3 million dollars, which is 5 times that of Pump.fun. From almost zero in May, to steadily breaking through a daily revenue of one million dollars in July, Let'sBONK's revenue has been steadily increasing. In contrast, Pump.fun's revenue has plummeted since its peak in January.

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Since the ICO, the PUMP token has dropped 60% in market value, while BONK has remained relatively stable, with a market capitalization of 2.1 billion dollars. Let'sBONK allocates 1% of its revenue weekly for the repurchase of BONK, supporting this ecological token that predates the platform's birth and has an established foundation.

The Importance of Attention Economy

Pump.fun once gained an advantage through network effects, but attention is fragile. A live streaming incident gave users reason to try alternative platforms, and Let'sBONK quickly became the "clean" choice.

This is similar to the situation where Myspace lost to Facebook. Myspace had the features and scale, but lost the cultural narrative. Facebook became the platform for "real users," while Myspace became synonymous with spam and chaos.

Pump.fun launched a counterattack after realizing the crisis: increasing the token repurchase ratio to 100% and introducing a 30-day incentive plan. However, these tactical measures cannot restore the lost trust and user attention.

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In contrast, Let'sBONK has built a truly user-interest-aligned ecological reward system. Users can lock in their assets to receive revenue sharing from the product ecosystem, and they can also earn "Bonk Points" through various means. This gamified growth experience makes users feel like they are participating in a larger mission.

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A Bigger Picture

In the digital market, a dominant position can vanish in a matter of months. The exposure of past controversial events involving the co-founder of Pump.fun has further exacerbated the trust crisis.

The success of Let'sBONK is not due to the product being inherently superior, but because they entered the market at a time when Pump.fun's reputation was at its most vulnerable. In the attention economy, timing is often more critical than technology.

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Despite a significant shrink in market share, Pump.fun still has a chance to turn the situation around. They have ample capital reserves, the platform's stability has been tested, and brand recognition remains. Recent actions such as the Pump.fun 2.0 upgrade and increasing the repurchase ratio indicate that they have not given up.

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In the future, market fragmentation may occur, with Let'sBONK becoming the main platform, while Pump.fun transforms into a niche platform. However, to truly turn the tide, Pump.fun needs to rebuild trust and regain cultural prominence, which may require a complete change of leadership to shake off past controversies.

As the wisdom of the French court goes: when a ruler loses legitimacy, no amount of wealth and ceremony can restore dignity. Sometimes, to prolong the reign, the crown must be passed to a newcomer.

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