The decline of meme mania: activity on Pump.fun has collapsed, interest shifts to futures
The Pump.fun platform, once the epicenter of meme coins, is showing a sharp cooldown. Key protocol metrics — from the number of daily token launches to generated fees — have been steadily declining since August. This is a direct reflection that the meme trading bubble, fueled by easy money, is beginning to deflate.
According to data from the Dune analytics dashboard, the share of tokens that successfully completed the bonding curve fell to a catastrophic 0.16% in June. For comparison, at the peak of popularity in March, this figure exceeded 2%. A drop of more than 12 times is a clear signal that the "factory" has stopped churning out successful projects. The total number of daily created coins has decreased by 30% compared to spring values.
The platform's financial indicators look no less dismal. Pump.fun's daily revenue collapsed from $2 million in January to a modest $800,000. Daily trading volumes fell fourfold — from $400 million to $100 million. Logically, against the backdrop of shrinking turnover, token creator fees are also declining. The situation is exacerbated by the state of the native token PUMP: it has lost 80% of its all-time highs, reached almost immediately after its launch in September 2025.
The root of the problem lies not only in meme fatigue. The total market capitalization of the entire meme coin segment has shrunk by nearly $8 billion over the past 30 days. However, the key factor in the stagnation is trader migration. The audience that previously sought quick and chaotic profits on Pump.fun has flowed into perpetual futures markets. Platforms like Hyperliquid offer the same easy access and high volatility, but with more predictable and liquid assets.
A telling example: on June 12, the day SpaceX went public, the trading volume of the SPCX perpetual contract on Hyperliquid reached $1.4 billion. This clearly demonstrates where capital is moving — from meme lotteries to instruments with a real foundation.
Expert opinion: Pump.fun is not dying, but is returning to its basic function — a testing ground for one-off experiments. The era when every new token guaranteed a 10x return is over. The market is maturing, and traders are now voting with liquidity for assets that can be hedged and analyzed, rather than simply "hoping for the best."