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Let's comapre pump fun and lets bonk - two of the largest meme launchpads on Solana in their race to win the launchpad battle.
Author: Sahil Thakur
Solana is home to some of the most explosive memecoin activity in crypto. Two platforms stand out: Pump.fun and Let’s BONK. Both offer easy, no-code token launches. Both empower anyone to start a memecoin in minutes. But their strategies, user bases, and impacts differ in major ways.
In this deep dive, we’ll explore how these launchpads work, their top projects, revenues, communities, tokenomics, and how Let’s BONK briefly overtook Pump.fun before the latter made a roaring comeback.
Pump.fun launched in early 2024. Its mission was simple: let anyone launch a token instantly. No coding. No design skills. Just pay a small fee in SOL, fill in a few details, and launch.
The platform uses a bonding curve. That means early buyers get cheap tokens. As demand rises, prices rise. There are no liquidity pools. There are no market makers. The curve sets the price, and trading happens directly on the curve.
If a token gets enough traction, it “graduates.” This means it crosses a liquidity or volume threshold – usually around $30K to $90, and then gets listed on PumpSwap, a DEX powered by Pump.fun. Here, trading shifts to a more traditional model with LPs and lower fees.
But what really made Pump.fun viral were the livestreams. Creators went live to promote their coins. Some danced. Some screamed. Others did bizarre stunts. The streams were chaotic, hilarious, and sometimes disturbing. At its peak, these streams drew thousands of viewers and millions in trading volume.
Pump.fun became a meme factory. It turned absurdity into capital. Some projects reached billions in market cap. Others flamed out in hours. But the platform kept buzzing.
Let’s BONK launched later in 2024. It took a different approach. Instead of promoting chaos, it focused on sustainability and alignment with the BONK ecosystem.
It also offers no-code token creation. Like Pump.fun, it uses a bonding curve model. Launching a token is easy: pick a name, choose a ticker, upload a logo, pay a small fee, and your coin is live.
But Let’s BONK has a unique hook. It integrates deeply with the BONK token. A portion of every fee goes to burning BONK. Another portion goes to buying back BONK. These mechanisms reduce supply and support the token’s price.
The platform also launched incentive programs. These include Bonk Points, dev rewards, liquidity bonuses, and grants. It encourages real builders, not just meme lords.
By mid-2025, Let’s BONK had exploded. It hosted more launches than Pump.fun. It captured over 75% of Solana memecoin launch activity. Its daily volume exceeded half a billion dollars.
Let’s BONK positioned itself as the fairer, cleaner alternative. It gave BONK holders reasons to participate. And it built momentum.
Pump.fun is responsible for some of the most viral memecoins in crypto history. Fartcoin reached over $1 billion in market cap. Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) surged past $1.8 billion. Celebrity tokens from Iggy Azalea and Jason Derulo grabbed headlines. Some were genuine hits. Others were grifts. But they always drew attention.
Another Pump.fun project, GENZ Quant, promised to use AI for crypto trading. It raised millions fast. Then the founders turned on each other. Legal threats followed. It became a meme of its own.
Let’s BONK, on the other hand, leaned into quality. Its biggest hit, Useless Coin, reached over $300 million. It had solid branding, a consistent community, and even a functioning roadmap. Other BONK-based tokens emerged with proper distribution plans and tokenomics.
While Pump.fun brought the fire, Let’s BONK brought the structure.
Pump.fun launched its own token, PUMP, in 2025. It held a massive ICO, raising $600 million. With earlier private rounds included, total capital raised hit $1.3 billion. The token funds growth, incentivizes users, and supports buybacks. It’s the economic engine behind the Pump.fun platform.
Let’s BONK uses the existing BONK token. BONK was already popular before the platform launched. Let’s BONK gave it more utility. Every time someone launches a token, 50% of the fee goes to burning BONK. Another 1% goes to weekly buybacks.
This design rewards BONK holders. It reduces supply and creates steady demand. It’s also simpler. There’s no new token to manage or speculate on. It deepens the BONK ecosystem.
By early 2025, Pump.fun had generated over $800 million in revenue. Most of this came from trading fees and coin graduations. Each graduated coin paid around 1.5 SOL. Every trade carried a 1% fee.
Let’s BONK caught up quickly. By mid-2025, it was generating over $1.3 million per day. It hosted three times as many launches as Pump.fun. It also had higher daily volume: $536 million versus Pump.fun’s $394 million.
The market share shift was dramatic. Pump.fun dropped from dominance to just 19%. Let’s BONK rose to 78%. For a while, it looked like Pump.fun was out of the race.
But here’s the twist, August brought the comeback story no one saw coming.
Pump.fun went into full redemption mode. They started buying back $PUMP from the open market with over $1 million worth a day, consistently. It wasn’t just a short-term pump either. They backed it with real revenue – remember, this is a platform that had already brought in over $800 million since launch. They also teased airdrops, hinted at new community initiatives, and basically reignited the spark that had made them the top launchpad in the first place.
And it worked. By mid-August, Pump.fun had flipped the script. It was once again leading in token launches, pulling in the majority of Solana launchpad revenue, and seeing its daily volume soar. $PUMP even bounced off its lows and showed signs of life, thanks in part to the buybacks and a stronger narrative around future utility. Traders came back. Degens came back. Even the skeptics had to admit: Pump.fun got its mojo back.
Pump.fun’s community thrives on memes, chaos, and speed. Users create, trade, and move on. There’s little long-term loyalty. But the energy is unmatched. The livestream culture built hype and visibility. Even when controversial, it made people watch.
Let’s BONK appeals to builders and holders. The BONK integration rewards patience. The point systems and incentives create stickiness. Communities form around projects that have actual roadmaps. It’s more sustainable, if less explosive.
Both platforms brought activity to Solana. They pumped up daily transactions. They drove wallet creation and SOL usage. But they also sparked debate.
Pump.fun, in particular, drew criticism. Some projects were rugs. Others were scams. A few creators promoted dangerous or offensive content. Regulators started watching closely.
Let’s BONK faced fewer controversies. Its structure protected users better. But even it couldn’t stop copycats and low-effort tokens from flooding the market.
Still, both platforms reshaped how people think about token creation. They proved that memecoins can be launched, tested, and traded in real-time by anyone.
Pump.fun and Let’s BONK both define the memecoin culture on Solana. One thrives on chaos. The other builds through structure. One rewards spectacle. The other rewards loyalty.
In the end, both serve different user types. And both push innovation forward. Solana’s memecoin world isn’t zero-sum. As long as users want to create, speculate, and meme – these platforms will keep evolving.
The war isn’t over. It’s just getting started.
