The Power Transition of the Solana Memes Issuance Platform

"The king is dead, long live the king." This ancient proclamation echoed through the Palace of Versailles during the royal succession in 18th century France. It is not just a ritual, but profoundly reveals the nature of power: power never belongs to anyone; it flows like water, always seeking new containers. This ancient ritual of power transition is now being played out on the meme issuance platform of the Solana ecosystem.

Once the dominant ruler Pump.fun, which controlled 88% of the market share a month ago, now only holds 13%. The newly emerged challenger Let'sBONK has already captured 86% of the market. This is not just another manifestation of the volatility of the crypto market, but a classic case of empire collapse: when the attention, which is the ultimate moat, is ignored, even the greatest first-mover advantage can instantly vanish.

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The Rise and Fall of the Pump.fun Empire

Pump.fun was launched in January 2024 by three young people in their 20s, and its revolutionary idea subverts the issuance logic of memes: just upload an image, give it a name, click a few times, and you can issue a token for less than $2, without any programming knowledge. This satisfies the underlying impulse of transforming "worthless" into "valuable"; in the crypto world, this is not a fantasy, but a business model.

By January 2025, Pump.fun generated over $458 million in revenue, launching thousands of new coins daily, with peak daily earnings exceeding $7 million. It not only occupied the infrastructure but also firmly held the cultural discourse power, becoming a synonym for Solana memes culture.

However, the tragedy began with one of its most innovative features: live streaming. Originally intended to allow issuers to promote their tokens, the situation quickly spiraled out of control. In November 2024, in a bid for attention, some began to engage in extreme behaviors during live streams, including simulating self-harm and threatening suicide. The most severe incident involved a minor user brandishing a shotgun in front of the camera, threatening their family just to drive up the coin price.

Pump.fun was forced to urgently shut down its live streaming feature, but its reputation has taken a hit. Weekly revenue plummeted by 66%, and public opinion turned against them, while competitors began to take advantage of the situation. Faced with declining revenue and competitive pressure, Pump.fun made a decision that seemed smart but was actually fatal: to issue a coin (ICO) for self-rescue.

This ICO raised $500 million from more than 10,000 wallets in 12 minutes, along with $700 million from private placements. However, a deeper analysis revealed that over 200 wallets hit the $1 million cap, with the top 340 buyers accounting for 60% of the share. All sold tokens are fully unlocked, with only a transfer restriction period of 48 to 72 hours set.

The token price initially soared 75% to $0.007, but the enthusiasm quickly cooled. It dropped 60% within weeks, continuously hitting new lows, displaying a typical "death spiral" trend. The tokenomics design is also extremely aggressive, with only 33% allocated to public and private offerings, while 67% is controlled by the project team, and the allocation timeline is unclear.

Despite users generating nearly $750 million for the platform, there are no immediate community rewards; meanwhile, private investors have dumped tokens worth $160 million on the exchange, creating significant selling pressure. The final blow came when co-founder Alon Cohen publicly announced that the long-promised airdrop "will not happen in the foreseeable future," which was like adding fuel to the fire at a time when community trust was already at its weakest.

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The Rise of Let'sBONK

When Pump.fun fell into crisis, Let'sBONK was quietly building everything that the competitor lacked: transparency, community orientation, and clear communication. Currently, Let'sBONK's daily revenue has reached $1.3 million, five times that of Pump.fun. From nearly zero in May to steadily breaking the $1 million daily revenue mark in July, Let'sBONK's revenue has been steadily increasing. Meanwhile, Pump.fun's revenue has plummeted from a peak of over $7 million in January back to levels seen in September 2024.

Since the ICO, the PUMP token has dropped 60% in market value, while BONK has remained relatively stable, maintaining a market value of 2.1 billion dollars. Let's BONK allocates 1% of its weekly revenue to repurchase BONK, supporting this ecosystem token that predates the platform's birth and has a solid foundation.

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The Victory and Defeat of Attention Economy

Pump.fun once gained an advantage through network effects, but attention is fragile. It is not like the moats of traditional enterprises; once trust collapses, user mentality can disintegrate in an instant. An incident during a live broadcast gave users reason to try alternative platforms, and Let'sBONK quickly became the "clean" choice.

Realizing the crisis of life and death, Pump.fun launched a counterattack. They increased the token buyback ratio from 25% of daily revenue to 100% and introduced a 30-day incentive program. However, these tactical adjustments did not reverse the competitive situation. The problem is that no amount of buybacks or incentive programs can restore the lost trust, nor can they recapture the attention of users who have already shifted away.

In contrast, Let'sBONK has built a truly user-interest-bound ecological reward system. The BONK reward program allows users to lock their assets for 6 to 12 months and receive a proportionate share of the product ecosystem's revenue. Users can earn "Bonk points" through trading, purchasing, or issuing coins, which are expected to be redeemable for physical goods or rights in the future, further incentivizing active participation.

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Bigger Picture

In the digital market, user switching costs are nearly zero, and dominant positions can vanish in a matter of months. The success of Let'sBONK is not because they built a fundamentally superior product, but because they entered the market at the moment when Pump.fun's reputation was at its most vulnerable. In the attention economy, timing is often more critical than technology.

Is there still a chance for Pump.fun to make a comeback? Although their market share has significantly shrunk, they are not yet out of the game. The $1.2 billion in financing has bought them time and experimental capital. Their platform has supported hundreds of thousands of project launches without collapsing, which is particularly important in a high-pressure environment. They still have over $250,000 in daily revenue, coupled with a huge capital reserve, so they still have a solid foundation.

The most likely scenario is market fragmentation. Let'sBONK may become the main platform, while Pump.fun will transform into a niche platform with loyal users. However, to truly turn things around, Pump.fun must not only solve technical issues or rely on financial incentives to retain users, but also rebuild trust and reclaim cultural prominence. This may require a complete overhaul of the leadership to thoroughly distance itself from past controversies.

In this modern version of the "The King is dead, long live the King" ceremony, we once again see an ancient truth: when a ruler loses legitimacy, no amount of resources can restore their dignity. Sometimes, for the continuation of the kingdom, the crown must be passed to a newcomer.

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