Pump.fun - Meme Market Meltdown

Crypto frenzy cooling amid scandal

TLDR:

• Pump.fun’s daily volume fell 27% after the LIBRA scandal.

• New wallet creations and token launches have nearly halved.

• Political controversies and market manipulation concerns have dampened meme coin interest.

The explosive world of crypto meme coins is showing signs of strain. Once a vibrant playground for speculative traders, Pump.fun—a leading platform on the Solana blockchain—has seen its daily trading volume plunge from $184 million to $134 million. This sharp 27% drop comes in the wake of the LIBRA token controversy, which implicated high-profile political figures and raised red flags about market manipulation.

The scandal erupted when Argentine President Javier Milei endorsed LIBRA on social media, only to retract his support hours later, claiming he was misled. On-chain data revealed that LIBRA’s developers reaped quick profits while many investors were left with substantial losses. The fallout has not only ignited fraud complaints from Argentine lawyers but also prompted calls for stricter oversight in the crypto space.

“Pump.fun was booming, with over 6 million tokens launched since January 2024,” noted Daria Morgen, Head of Research at Changelly. “But this incident has clearly shaken investor confidence, evident from the drastic drop in new wallet registrations—to just 59,000 on Tuesday, the lowest since November 2024.” Daily meme coin launches have similarly shrunk from 61,800 to 27,800.

Industry opinions are divided. While some experts, like Morgen, believe meme coins serve as a gateway for new users to explore more serious blockchain projects, others are more cautious. Tobin Kuo, CEO of Seraph Studios, compared the current crypto scene to “the world’s largest casino,” emphasizing that the ease of launching tokens through platforms like Pump.fun has also enabled pump-and-dump schemes, where early movers profit at the expense of later investors.

Jessica Zheng, CEO of Cycle Network, observed, “What started as a fun entry point into crypto has devolved into short-term speculation, undermining long-term growth.” Meanwhile, Hedi Navazan, Chief Compliance Officer at 1inch Labs, warned that without proper regulation, meme coins remain dangerously susceptible to fraud and manipulation—a sentiment echoed at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos 2025.

Not all is doom and gloom, however. Despite the cooling of market sentiment, Pump.fun still generates about $2 million in daily revenue and dominates Solana’s decentralized exchange activity. Yet legal challenges loom large; a class action lawsuit alleges that Pump.fun operated as an unregistered securities exchange, having helped create over 50,000 tokens and amassed nearly $500 million in fees.

In an industry marked by rapid innovation and equally swift downswings, the LIBRA scandal could be a turning point—forcing both regulators and market participants to rethink the balance between creative freedom and investor protection.

photo / Blockonome