"Power Transition": The Power Shift in the Crypto Assets Field

"The king is dead, long live the king." This phrase echoed through the Palace of Versailles in the 18th century, symbolizing the rapid transition of power. In today's world of Crypto Assets, we are witnessing a similar shift in power, especially in the realm of memecoin issuance platforms on the Solana chain.

In just one month, the once-dominant Pump.fun, which held 88% of the market share, now has only 13%, while the emerging challenger Let'sBONK has captured 86% of the market. This is not only another reflection of the volatility in the crypto market but also a typical case of an empire collapse, demonstrating that when the core moat of attention is neglected, even having a first-mover advantage can lead to losing everything in an instant.

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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 simple operation method has completely changed the issuance logic of meme coins. Users only need to upload an image and come up with a name to issue a token, with costs less than 2 dollars, without the need to write code. This satisfies the impulse of turning something "worthless" into "something of certain value," which is not a fantasy but a business model in the Crypto Assets world.

By January 2025, Pump.fun generated over $458 million in revenue, launching thousands of new coins daily, with peak daily revenue exceeding $7 million. It not only became an infrastructure but also held sway over the discourse of Solana memecoin culture.

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However, the tragedy began with one of its most "innovative" features: live streaming. Originally intended for token promotion, the feature quickly spiraled out of control, leading to a series of extreme behaviors, including self-harm simulations and suicide threats. The most serious incident involved a minor user threatening family members with a gun during a live stream. This forced Pump.fun to urgently shut down the live streaming feature, but its reputation had already been damaged. Weekly revenue plummeted by 66%, and competitors began to take advantage of the situation.

Faced with declining revenue and competitive pressure, Pump.fun decided to save itself by issuing the token (ICO). Although $500 million was raised within 12 minutes, along with $700 million in private placement, there are issues with the token economics design. 60% of the shares were obtained by the top 340 buyers, with all sold tokens fully unlocked and only a short transfer restriction period.

The token price initially rose by 75%, but quickly began to fall, dropping 60% within a few weeks, displaying a typical "death spiral" trend. The token allocation plan has also sparked controversy, with only 33% allocated to public and private offerings, while 67% is controlled by the project team, and the allocation timeline is unclear.

Despite the platform generating nearly $750 million in revenue for users, there are no immediate community rewards. Meanwhile, private investors have sold $160 million worth of tokens to the exchange, creating significant selling pressure.

The final blow came when co-founder Alon Cohen publicly announced the cancellation of the long-promised airdrop plan. This caused the token price to plummet by 15% within 24 hours, severely damaging community trust.

The Rise of Let'sBONK

When Pump.fun is in crisis, Let'sBONK is quietly building a more transparent, community-oriented platform. Currently, Let'sBONK's daily revenue has reached $1.3 million, which is 5 times that of Pump.fun's $125.4 thousand. On an annualized basis, Let'sBONK's monthly revenue is as high as $434.92 million, while Pump.fun's is $267.25 million.

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From nearly zero in May to a stable breakthrough of one million dollars in daily revenue in July, Let'sBONK's revenue has been steadily rising. Meanwhile, Pump.fun's revenue has plummeted from a peak of over 7 million dollars in January back to the levels of September 2024.

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The PUMP token has lost 60% of its market value since its ICO, while BONK has remained relatively stable, maintaining a market value of 2.1 billion USD. Let's BONK uses 1% of its weekly income to buy back BONK, supporting this ecological token that predates the platform's birth.

The Importance of Attention Economy

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

This is reminiscent of the situation where Myspace lost to Facebook. Myspace had the features and scale, but lost the cultural narrative. Facebook became the platform for "real users," while Myspace became synonymous with spam and a chaotic interface.

Realizing the crisis, Pump.fun launched a desperate counterattack. They increased the token buyback ratio from 25% of daily revenue to 100% and introduced a 30-day incentive program. However, these strategies did not reverse the competitive situation.

The problem lies not in tactics, but in strategy. No amount of buybacks or incentive programs can restore lost trust, nor can they refocus the attention of users who have already shifted.

Let'sBONK has built a truly user-interest-bound ecological reward system. Users can lock up BONK tokens for 6 to 12 months and receive a proportional share of the revenue from ecological products. The longer the lock-up period, the higher the multiplier. The better the product performance, the more returns for users. This is not simply "spending money to get people to trade", but rather "spending money to let users co-build".

Users can also earn "points" through various activities, which may be redeemed for physical items or benefits in the future, further incentivizing participation. The gamified growth experience makes users feel like they are participating in a larger mission.

A Bigger Picture

In traditional industries, market leaders often maintain their positions for a long time. However, in the digital market, the cost of switching for users is close to zero, and dominant positions can disappear within a few months.

The news of Dylan Kerler, co-founder of Pump.fun, being involved in controversial actions further undermines the platform's credibility. In an industry built on trust and memes, a collapse of reputation equates to a survival crisis.

The success of Let'sBONK is not because they built a fundamentally superior product, but because they entered the market at the weakest moment of Pump.fun's reputation. In the attention economy, timing is often more critical than technology.

The winner-takes-all logic of network effects has begun to reverse. After users migrated to Let'sBONK, the flywheel that once propelled Pump.fun's rise has also started to reverse. Developers follow traders, and traders chase popular projects, accelerating the platform's decline.

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Nevertheless, Pump.fun still has a chance to turn things around. They have secured $1.2 billion in funding, which has bought them time and experimental capital. Their platform has supported hundreds of thousands of project launches without crashing, which is particularly important in a high-pressure environment. Even with a decline in market share, they still have considerable daily income and a massive capital reserve.

As a category pioneer, Pump.fun has simplified token issuance to a click operation, earning them lasting brand recognition. Their recent actions also indicate that they have not given up: launching Pump.fun 2.0, increasing the buyback ratio, and introducing user incentives, among others.

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The most likely scenario in the future is market fragmentation. Let'sBONK may become the dominant platform, while Pump.fun may transform into a niche platform with loyal users, occupying a space with specific advantages.

But to truly turn the tide, Pump.fun not only needs to solve technical problems or rely on incentives to retain users, but also must rebuild trust and reclaim cultural high ground. This may require comprehensive reforms, including a change in leadership, to completely shake off past controversies.

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In this power transition, we once again see an old truth: when rulers lose legitimacy, no amount of resources and rituals can restore dignity. Sometimes, to ensure the continuity of the ecosystem, power must be handed over to new stewards.

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