Pump.fun Faces $22M Revenue Crash Amid Livestream Controversy

Pump.fun, the popular Solana-based meme coin launchpad, has seen its fortunes plummet following a series of alarming incidents tied to its livestream feature.

The platform seems to be grappling with the fallout from a decision to temporarily pause its livestream function after users broadcast disturbing content in a bid to pump their tokens’ values.

Weekly Income Nosedives

Information from decentralized finance (DeFi) data aggregator DefiLlama shows that between November 18 and November 24, Pump.fun generated an impressive $33.83 million in revenue, the highest since its launch in early 2024.

The figure represented a 60% increase from the prior week and a 400% jump since the beginning of November, as meme coin mania hit the broader crypto market. However, the following week saw a dramatic $22.52 million reversal, with proceeds plunging to $11.31 million, the lowest the platform recorded since the end of October.

Despite the dip, the $82.78 million raised in November, per DefiLlama, is still the highest amount Pump.fun has raked in across a 30-day period since it opened to the public. Monthly returns have been on a steady rise since March, with only a slight contraction in September, when they went down to $14.41 million, being the only blip. In that time, the meme coin launcher has earned more than $227 million in revenue.

The weekly income slump was also accompanied by a significant dip in the number of tokens launched on Pump.fun during that period. On November 30, according to data from Dune, only 34,359 were created, a 50% drop from a record 69,046 registered just ten days earlier on November 20.

Exploitative Livestreams

The decline came against the backdrop of Pump.fun’s decision to suspend its livestream feature amid rising concerns over harmful behavior. Originally intended to help developers promote their projects, some seemingly abused the feature by airing acts ranging from threats of self-harm to extreme violence.

One incident involved a developer claiming they would commit suicide if their token failed to hit a specific market cap. At the same time, another allegedly threatened to harm a pet in exchange for their project’s success.

In another incident, a user had to be hospitalized for several days after sustaining severe burns when he doused himself in isopropyl and set off fireworks during a live broadcast to promote the TruthOrDare (DARE) meme coin.

However, following public outcry, the Pump.fun team issued a community note on November 24, acknowledging the disturbing nature of the events. They also announced that they would indefinitely pause the platform’s livestream feature, promising to work on its moderation tools to prevent such content from being broadcast in the future.