Author: VelvetMilkman, Crypto KOL

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

When Facebook first launched, it seemed trivial: just a digital college yearbook with no obvious business model. Older generations viewed it as a toy, unable to foresee how the company would later monetize attention on a global scale. Twitter faced similar skepticism. It was belittled as a platform for people to announce what they were having for lunch, but it gradually evolved into the nervous system of global politics and media. Even Roblox seemed to many as just a children's video game. However, the platform later proved itself to be a laboratory for the virtual economy and user-generated worlds. Time and again, platforms initially seen as oddities eventually developed into global cultural infrastructure, becoming sources of immense wealth.

Pump.fun is at a similar turning point. To many, the team's foray into live streaming seems impractical, even absurd. Pump has been dismissed as a fleeting "meme coin" farce. But viewing it this way overlooks its enduring vitality and the fact that it has repeatedly outperformed competitors in just a few weeks. Pump is laying the groundwork for a new generation of always-online internet economy. This is a world where culture and speculation are not separate but intertwined. With streaming returning to their portfolio, they are now aiming to become an entertainment portal for audience participation in financial activities.

The streaming economy highlights the limitations of existing models and the opportunities for newcomers to disrupt these established players, such as Twitch and Kick. Twitch, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon, takes 50% from every subscription, and a medium creator with 1,000 concurrent viewers might earn only $600 a month (even after accounting for subscription revenue, ads, and tips). Kick, supported by the gambling platform Stake, offers a 95% revenue share. Kick's generosity is sustained through subsidies. Streamers eligible for Kick's incentive program can earn over $6,000 a month, nearly ten times that of Twitch, even with the same audience size. However, this economic model is not sustainable. They rely on Stake's funding, hoping to attract new users to its online casino. The economic viability of these models cannot stand alone.

Revenue-sharing model between existing platforms and creators

Pump's incentive model directly addresses these contradictions, providing creators with a way to achieve profitability upfront. Streamers launching tokens no longer rely on subscriptions or advertisers; creators can now create demand directly through live streaming. The flywheel is simple: live streaming sparks speculation, speculation drives fee revenue, creators can choose to execute buybacks, buybacks generate narratives, and narratives feed back into new live streams. This is a unique selling point for the next wave of innovative live streamers. Revenue is no longer limited solely by audience size but depends on the audience's willingness to engage.

This is not a minor change in creator incentive mechanisms. Pump redefines the meaning of online live streaming. A creator earning $10 million a year from sponsorships can allocate a relatively small portion for token buybacks, and the tokens tied to their online persona will suddenly operate like an investment, embedded with ongoing demand. The community is no longer passive but chooses to invest economically (and emotionally) in creators.

The younger generation tends to choose new media forms for daily news and current events. Once they understand these consumption habits, it is easy to imagine them purchasing tokens of their favorite streamers (even if not immediately, they will buy once they realize the value of owning tokens). In this new incentive model, the token valuation of the most popular creators could surpass that of established tech companies. Investors and traders are not just buying simple cash flows: they are purchasing access to culture, identity, and community.

The above scenario is not purely hypothetical. Earlier this year, President Trump launched his $TRUMP meme coin shortly after winning the election and invited the top 220 holders to a dinner; the top 25 holders received a special VIP trip to the White House and were hosted by the president at a private reception. These holders collectively spent nearly $150 million to secure their status. Just this news caused the token price to rise by over 50%. While this may sound absurd, it is reality, proving that token ownership can yield profits and tangible social opportunities. In other words, Pump's vision of making streaming tokens a cultural norm is gradually taking shape among celebrities and political elites.

Critics overlook that Pump is professionalizing financial spectacle, just as sports professionalized physical advantages and esports professionalized digital mastery. In a highly financialized era, trading mimics art, just as art mimics trading. A crash is no longer the end of a career; it is a narrative climax. A scam is no longer the end of someone's career; it is a ritual that solidifies the anti-hero legend. Risks and losses are no longer flaws in the system but are repackaged as content for cultural creation and sharing.

Tokens will not always remain speculative. They will continue to evolve into tools for managing access, business, and community loyalty. Just as TikTok integrates shopping into entertainment, Pump will embed spectacle into speculation. The boundary between financial participation and cultural participation will disappear. Audiences will not feel like they are watching from the sidelines but will cheer from the front lines. Audience identity will evolve into their own micro-economy: organizing funds, coordinating buybacks, and managing collective assets.

Humans have always showcased their value through performance. Rome had gladiators, the industrial age had athletes, the digital age has gamers, and the financial age will continue to elevate traders. In the latest arena, there are no boundaries between audiences and participants. Watching traders operate can be joined with just a click. Exciting moments are no longer just dunks or Oscar-level performances but will be presented alongside parabolic charts, liquidation waves, or dramatic buybacks that reshape token prices in real-time. Finance is no longer relegated to the background but is gradually taking center stage.

Absurdity and obscenity are entirely subjective concepts. The longer something exists, the more likely it is to be widely accepted. The lesson of history is that early seemingly trivial things often contain the seeds of transformation. Social networks were once seen as toys before becoming cultural infrastructure, and online dating was once ridiculed but is now commonplace. For some, creator tokens may seem meaningless, just noise. But skeptics will soon find themselves questioning why they didn't spot the opportunity sooner.

Pump is not merely attaching speculative behavior to streaming. It has the potential to reshape the relationship between creators, audiences, and capital, forming a self-sustaining and scalable system. Content generates demand. Demand spurs buybacks. Buybacks create culture. Culture spawns more content. The cycle is complete. We have created a flywheel.

Money itself is a form of culture. Pump is the first platform to publicly acknowledge this and build tracks for its expansion. The highlight of the next decade will be a chart.

It is easy to view Pump's live streaming as a flash in the pan, believing it won't last. But looking at Pump's data (revenue, distribution across various streaming categories, and growing daily active viewers), it is hard to conclude that it is not worth close attention. For those readers who have made it this far and hold this view, try to temporarily set aside your doubts, discard your prejudices, and think about what the future might look like in a few years. Discussions about over-financialization will not stop on CT. They drone on, making you feel it is inevitable.

This is precisely the manifestation of over-financialization. With recent successes, public opinion has shifted. It is hard to imagine a future world where streaming hosts still need to kneel to platforms like Twitch or Kick for distribution channels. I believe it is more likely that the first generation of entrepreneurs will seize the opportunity to merge live streaming and creator tokens into an engine that is both culturally impactful and economically beneficial. We are currently experiencing a form of accelerated capitalism: it merges entertainment and investment on the same stage.

The boundaries between audiences and stakeholders have begun to blur. What seems absurd can achieve astonishing results in just a week under the spotlight. Over time, this will seem more and more natural. Pump is not the inventor of live streaming, but it will push this form to its logical extreme. The team’s entry into live streaming has the potential to push Pump to the cultural forefront.

You may not agree or choose to participate, but Pump is showcasing an inevitable future. Do not let your discomfort blind you to the insight that the existing landscape may change rapidly. This situation often occurs much faster than anyone anticipates.

Related reading: Can live streaming be tokenized? How Pump.fun builds a creator capital market to challenge Twitch and Kick

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。