Pump.fun valued at $1.5B after $15M stake listing

SecondLane, a private markets trading platform, has listed a 1% equity stake in Pump.fun for $15 million, placing the Solana-based (CRYPTO:SOL) platform’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) at $1.5 billion.  

Pump.fun has gained attention for its focus on meme coin trading and significant revenue generation.  

Based on DefiLlama data, the platform earned $86 million in fees over the past 30 days, bringing its cumulative fee revenue to over $225 million.  

It is currently ranked as the eighth highest-earning blockchain protocol, following names like Circle and Uniswap.  

Despite its financial success, Pump.fun has not yet launched a native token.  

The team hinted at a future token launch in October 2024, though no timeline has been provided.  

They have also announced plans to upgrade their trading terminal with "Pump Advance," which will introduce features such as mini-charts, data on top holders, and social indicators to help traders navigate the growing meme coin market.  

Pump.fun faces challenges, including the high failure rate of meme coins listed on its platform, with data from Dune Analytics showing that approximately 98% have failed.  

In response, the platform introduced incentives in August 2024, offering $80 to token creators to encourage completion of bonding curves for listing on Raydium (CRYPTO:RAY).  

Additionally, the token launch fee was reduced from $2 to zero.  

The platform recently paused its livestream feature following reports of inappropriate content, including self-harm acts, used to promote tokens.  

Meme coins remain a contentious topic in the crypto community.  

Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin have criticised their proliferation, urging developers to create more innovative and practical blockchain applications.