Memecoins attract users, but platforms reap the profits: Report

Memecoins may attract new users to blockchains, but the profits largely flow to the platforms that launch and trade the tokens, according to a new report from Galaxy Research.

The study released on Wednesday shows that while most traders lose money in a short-term gambling market, infrastructure providers such as launchpads, decentralized exchanges and trading bots capture millions in revenue by facilitating memecoin trading.

Solana’s Pump.fun, a memecoin launchpad that debuted in early 2024, has been a major beneficiary, with tokens on the platform representing a combined $4.8 billion in fully diluted market value, as per the report. 

Galaxy added that out of the 32 million tokens on Solana, nearly 13 million have been launched through Pump.fun, a nearly 300% increase in under two years. “The platform has simply industrialized token creation on Solana,” Galaxy Research said.

The report also shows that median hold times for Solana memecoins have collapsed to about 100 seconds, down from 300 seconds a year earlier, highlighting the dominance of bots and scalpers on memecoin trading.

One trading platform, Axiom, has generated over $200 million in fees with fewer than ten employees, thanks to memecoin activity. “Axiom […] has scaled to millions in monthly revenues by collecting fees from memecoin traders,” it said. Other tools like BONKbot and Trojan earn revenue by charging users to automatically snipe new tokens at launch.

Related: Cathie Wood: Hyperliquid ‘reminds me of Solana in the earlier days’

Pump.fun continues to run

Though memecoins offer little utility beyond cultural value, platforms like Pump.fun continue to grow.

On July 12, the platform launched its own token, PUMP, in a sale that raised $500 million in under 12 minutes. The initial coin offering (ICO) offered 125 billion tokens.

Data from DefiLlama showed that between Aug. 11 and Aug. 17, Pump.fun generated $13.48 million in revenue, marking its strongest week since February.

Cointelegraph reported that Pump.fun handled over $1 billion in trading volume on Sept. 14, reaching $1.02 billion, after recording $942 million the day before.

Over the past 30 days, metrics from DefiLlama show the memecoin launchpad has generated about $120 million in fees.

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