Pump.fun's high valuation and token issuance have sparked controversy, with the market questioning whether its monopoly advantage is no longer valid.

CN
10 hours ago

# I. Pump Valuation of $4 Billion Token Issuance

On July 9, Pump.fun officially announced the launch of its platform token PUMP. The maximum supply of PUMP is 1 trillion tokens, with 33% of the tokens allocated for fundraising during the initial token offering (ITO) according to official disclosures. The private and public sale tokens are uniformly priced at $0.004 each, resulting in a total valuation of $4 billion, with all tokens to be released during the ITO. This means that after the opening of PUMP, there could be a potential selling pressure of up to $1.32 billion. As of July 11, its pre-trading price on Hyperliquid and Binance was approximately $0.0051, representing a premium of about 22% over the fundraising price.

The moment Pump.fun announced the token issuance, it added pressure to an already tense on-chain sentiment. The current market is facing liquidity tightening and low sentiment, and as the leading MEME launch platform, Pump.fun's daily revenue and user activity have significantly declined compared to peak periods, with its market share gradually being eroded by new competitors. Against this backdrop, its high valuation public offering is widely regarded as having structural issues: the token lacks actual value, there is significant early selling pressure, the team's unlocking plan lacks transparency, and it clearly overextends its valuation during the down cycle of altcoins. Additionally, the Pump.fun team's previous actions of continuously selling off the fees earned rather than replenishing the community have led many to worry that this round of high valuation fundraising resembles a liquidity exit operation rather than a long-term development plan for the project, with the team lacking the motivation and ability to continue supporting the market.

Since its launch in January 2024, Pump.fun has accumulated nearly $670 million in revenue, with a single-day fee peak close to $7 million. This had once allowed it to monopolize the dominant position of the Solana ecosystem MEME token launch platform. However, just as PUMP was about to be issued, competitor letsbonk.fun emerged strongly. letsbonk.fun has surpassed Pump.fun with 15,600 token issuances compared to Pump.fun's 11,500, disrupting the latter's 40.9% monopoly with a 49.8% market share. This marks the first time since January 2024 that Pump.fun has been surpassed by a competitor in the Solana MEME market share. Although Pump.fun later regained its position as the market leader, this experience of being surpassed has raised doubts about its monopoly status and indicates the possibility of being replaced by other platforms in the short term.

Pump.fun's high valuation token issuance raises controversy, market questions its monopoly advantage

Data source: Dune

# II. Introduction to PUMP Token Economics

  • 33% will be sold in the initial token offering

  • 24% allocated to community and ecosystem programs

  • 20% allocated to the team

  • 2.4% for the ecosystem fund

  • 2% for the foundation

  • 13% for existing investors

  • 3% allocated for live streaming

  • 2.6% for liquidity + exchanges

Pump.fun's high valuation token issuance raises controversy, market questions its monopoly advantage

PUMP Token Related Information

PUMP Token Sale:

33% of the total supply will be raised through token issuance. The private sale accounts for 18% (targeting institutions), and the public sale accounts for 15% (public fundraising on 6 centralized exchanges). The fundraising price for both rounds is $0.004 per token, with a total valuation of $4 billion, and all tokens will be fully unlocked on the first day of launch.

Timeline:

  • Start time: July 12, 2025 (Saturday) UTC 14:00

  • End time: July 15, 2025 (Tuesday) UTC 14:00 or until tokens are sold out, whichever comes first

  • Token distribution: within 48–72 hours after the sale ends, and can be freely transferred within 48–72 hours after distribution

Participation Requirements:

  • KYC real-name authentication must be completed

  • Residents of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other restricted jurisdictions are prohibited from participating

Uses of PUMP Tokens:

  • $PUMP is the platform token of pump.fun, and its sole purpose is to promote the pump.fun platform. It does not confer any rights to equity, profit sharing, voting rights, or platform fee distributions.

  • The proceeds from the token sale will be used for operational reserves of the platform or to pay service provider fees.

Information source: Pump.fun

# III. Competitor Analysis

Pump.fun's high valuation token issuance raises controversy, market questions its monopoly advantage

Note: Data from the past 24 hours as of July 10: Jupiter

From the perspective of market share and trading activity, Pump.fun still maintains a leading position. However, due to the rapid rise of competitors like letsbonk.fun, Pump.fun's market dominance is being eroded. Additionally, in terms of the core competitive aspect of the token economic model, Pump.fun's platform token PUMP has significant flaws. The official statement clearly indicates that the sole purpose of PUMP is for platform promotion and dissemination, and this token does not confer any economic rights—including but not limited to platform ownership, profit sharing, governance rights, or fee rebates—making its intrinsic value basis close to zero, essentially categorizing it as a "pure narrative" token. Tokens lacking value support are difficult to incentivize long-term holding and weaken the binding relationship between users and the platform.

In contrast, competitor letsbonk.fun has a more structurally advantageous token mechanism design. Although its BONK token also does not grant holders platform equity, it has established a strong value support logic by introducing an economic cycle and deflationary model: the platform uses 35% of the 1% transaction fee for market buybacks and burning BONK, while 30% is injected into the BONK liquidity pool, forming an automatic market-making mechanism that enhances liquidity depth. This dual mechanism of deflation and liquidity effectively enhances the attractiveness of holding BONK tokens and their price support capability. Furthermore, in terms of governance and community participation mechanisms, other platforms are also building a more complete token value closed loop. For example, Jupiter Studio's official token JUP not only has community governance functions but also supports staking for platform incentives, forming a certain degree of "governance-revenue" linkage. Compared to PUMP's "shell attribute," the mechanisms of JUP and BONK are more competitive in empowering users and building platform consensus in the long run.

# IV. Conclusion

In the context of a sluggish altcoin market environment and Pump.fun's recent poor performance, its platform token issuance plan is bound to attract market attention and controversy. Currently, the main risks associated with the PUMP token are as follows:

First, although it has long occupied the leading position in the sector, its market share has recently been surpassed multiple times by competitors like letsbonk.fun. In the context of intensified market competition, Pump.fun has chosen to issue its platform token at a valuation of $4 billion, significantly higher than the competitor BONK (valued at $2 billion), raising questions about the rationality of its pricing;

Second, the PUMP token model has significant flaws: it lacks any governance rights, profit-sharing, or fee rebate mechanisms, relying solely on brand narrative to support its value, which leads to a lack of incentives for holding the token in the medium to long term. Therefore, PUMP resembles a "pure narrative" token, and the market generally perceives its issuance intention as leaning more towards team cashing out rather than promoting long-term platform development;

Third, on a macro market level, although Bitcoin has recently reached new highs, boosting overall risk appetite, the altcoin market remains in a state of liquidity tightening. As of July 11, according to CMC data, the altcoin market cap has returned to $1.3 trillion, the same level as in May this year, and there has been no structural change in the current market (data source: CMC). Therefore, users remain cautious about high-valuation, high-selling-pressure tokens. In the absence of sufficient narrative space and funding support, PUMP faces a high risk of breaking below its issue price;

Fourth, Pump.fun's public offering round has a quota of up to $600 million, far exceeding industry norms. The vast majority of potential buyers are expected to subscribe directly in the primary market, leading to a severe lack of buying in the secondary market. Meanwhile, the immediate unlocking of 33% of tokens for primary investors (approximately $1.32 billion) will further exacerbate short-term price pressure and liquidity risk in the absence of sustained funding in the market.

Overall, although Pump.fun's token issuance continues its brand influence, under the multiple pressures of increasingly fierce market competition, lack of support for the token mechanism, and conservative funding sentiment, its high valuation and high selling pressure structure are likely to amplify market uncertainty. The future performance of PUMP will largely depend on whether the project team can build a more sustainable token value system after the release of secondary market pressure and reinforce its market dominance and user confidence through product innovation or ecosystem integration.

Risk Warning:

The information provided is for reference only and should not be considered as advice to buy, sell, or hold any financial assets. All information is provided in good faith. However, we make no express or implied representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, adequacy, effectiveness, reliability, availability, or completeness of such information.

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