Original author: @insomniac_ac

Reprint: Oliver, Mars Finance

Background

Pumpfun and Solana competitor LetsBonk.fun are deeply entrenched in an arms race for meme coins, constantly launching new features to attract traders.

LetsBonk.fun launched in April 2025, rapidly surpassing Pumpfun in daily activity by mid-July, reaching a peak of 28,000 tokens issued daily, while Pumpfun's low was only 3,500.

At that time, LetsBonk was also leading in trading volume ($179 million daily vs. $52 million) and fee revenue ($14.51 million vs. $2.329 million in the past 30 days).

However, recently Pumpfun experienced a turnaround, creating over 15,000 tokens in just 24 hours, surpassing its competitors.

Pumpfun Revenue

LetsBonk Revenue

LetsBonk, built around the BONK token on Solana, markets itself with a 'community-first' philosophy. It launched a governance token and offers creators a 1% trading fee share, far exceeding the 0.05% later offered by Pumpfun. The team explicitly reinvests fees into the ecosystem, such as using 50% of LetsBonk's fees to buy back and burn BONK and setting aside 8% for reserves; this initiative has been well received by users.

By July, community sentiment began to turn against Pumpfun's 'money-grabbing' strategy, with many early users selling off after the PUMP token's initial coin offering on July 12, despite the ICO raising as much as $500 million. The token price immediately plummeted over 50% from its historical high after the launch, forcing Pumpfun to initiate a buyback plan worth several hundred million dollars to stabilize the price.

Under pressure, Pump.fun adjusted its strategy to try to win back market share. In May, it began sharing 0.05% of exchange fees with token creators, a move aimed at curbing instant rug pulls and rewarding ongoing community building.

The latest update on August 8th has taken a bold step in this direction.

Pumpfun announced the launch of 'Group Coins' (team tokens), a suite of features supporting team-based token issuance and collaborative tools for meme coin creators. This update introduces 'creation teams' (multiple developers can jointly issue tokens), multisig wallets for project funding, and competitive issuance categories (such as rankings or competitions for new tokens).

The goal is to bring more structure and trust to the chaotic meme market while fundamentally addressing the long-standing 'rug pull' issues faced by Pumpfun, such as inactive tokens, volume dilution, etc. By allowing teams to issue tokens and requiring multisig control, Pumpfun aims to curb single-person scam tokens and encourage community-driven long-term projects. This is also how Pumpfun is trying to differentiate itself from BONKBot's ecosystem by fostering a social and collaborative atmosphere.

Notably, the 'Group Coins' update closely follows other significant initiatives from Pumpfun (fee-sharing updates and PUMP token issuance). This is part of its broader strategy to re-attract creators and traders who have flocked to LetsBonk. If early criticism was that Pumpfun's developers were pocketing the fees while neglecting the community, these recent changes directly address that claim. For example, Pumpfun now shares revenue with creators and hints at future revenue sharing with PUMP token holders.

By providing multisig safeguards for 'creation teams', the platform conveys a commitment to legitimacy; no one wants to fall victim to a rug pull, and multisig teams can help filter out bad actors. In short, Pumpfun is catching up to its competitors by injecting community incentives and safeguards into its model, while LetsBonk prioritized these from the start.

The meme coin community on Solana immediately took note of Pumpfun's 'Group Coins' announcement, with many seeing it as a clever shift. Pumpfun's co-founder @a1lon9 had hinted days ago that 'there will be a major announcement regarding organic community tokens,' and the actual update indeed brought a glimmer of optimism.

Some traders on Twitter praised the idea of team issuance as 'bringing more legitimate teams into meme coins.' Others hope that multisig control can restore some trust, serving as an antidote to the wild west-style rug pull culture.

Pumpfun's token price even rose 15% within days of the announcement, partly thanks to at least one 'whale' bet: on August 5th, on-chain detectives found a whale purchasing 1.06 billion PUMP for $3.3 million and opening a more than 3x long position before the update. Such a substantial bet indicates insiders expect Pumpfun to regain users and trading volume through these changes.

Meanwhile, skeptics are not lacking. Some in the community joke that 'Group Coins' are just 'Group Rugs', implying that dishonest developers might collude to scam. On X, influential trader Byzantine General harshly criticized Pumpfun's decline as a 'failure' and a 'generational mistake' and questioned whether the new features could fully recover the losses. 'They once had all the market share but completely messed it up... somehow lost the market, it's just ridiculous,' he bluntly pointed out.

From this perspective, Pumpfun's reputation won't be repaired overnight. Critics also point out that LetsBonk still provides more generous incentives for creators (1% fee sharing vs. Pumpfun's 0.05%), so Pumpfun may need to do more to win back top meme creators.

Outlook and Predictions

So, what does all this mean for the future competition between Pumpfun and BONKBot? In the short term, Pumpfun's 'Group Coins' update may narrow the gap between the two. Currently, Pumpfun has regained the lead in daily token issuance, indicating that some creators are returning to Pumpfun.

If the new features work as expected, the team issuance feature may accelerate this trend. We may see more meme projects formed by teams (such as influencer alliances, developer collaborations, DAO-like communities) choosing Pumpfun as their launch platform. This leverages Pumpfun's traditional advantage in quantity while adding a layer of quality control.

In other words, if multisig teams become popular, the average 'seriousness' of Pumpfun tokens may increase. More legitimate projects and fewer one-off scams may attract traders who had been steadfastly using LetsBonk. This is Pumpfun's attempt to shift its image from a 'casino' to something more community-driven while not completely losing its speculative attributes.

LetsBonk Daily Active Wallets

However, BONKBot has not stood still. LetsBonk still has a hardcore community and brand and has been more innovative than Pumpfun in recent months.

Pumpfun's belated response has addressed some issues, but BONKBot may retaliate in kind. If Pumpfun's PUMP token starts providing additional benefits to holders, such as fee discounts or revenue sharing, along with these new issuance features, LetsBonk might respond by issuing a token that further incentivizes its community, such as airdrops or larger rewards for creators and traders using its platform.

In fact, LetsBonk has already used 50% of its fees to buy back and burn BONK and support validators, thereby indirectly rewarding its ecosystem. To keep pace, Pumpfun may need to consider increasing creator rewards or introducing new incentives for PUMP holders. Competitive pressure is intensifying; it is an 'arms race' of features and rewards that will ultimately benefit Solana's meme coin traders, leading to better conditions for the community.

Comparison of Pumpfun and LetsBonk Revenue

From a trader's perspective, Pumpfun's short-term outlook is cautiously optimistic. The platform is clearly working to regain credibility, and if 'Group Coins' can lead to some headline-worthy token issuances, it will validate that Pumpfun's strategy is correct.

In the coming weeks, we may see Pumpfun's market share gradually rise above 50%. Some traders have already begun positioning for this turnaround. The price of PUMP has increased by about 30% since August, indicating growing confidence in Pumpfun. Additionally, more structural upgrades may attract more liquidity: major players who previously avoided Pumpfun due to rug pull risks may try to enter if multisig teams become the norm.

On the other hand, BONKBot's prospects remain strong. It still leads in user trust and community sentiment. Many traders genuinely enjoy the atmosphere and transparency of the BONK ecosystem. Even if Pumpfun gains an advantage in numbers, LetsBonk still has loyal users.

Pumpfun's new features not only need to bring more token issuance but also enhance active trading volume and user retention to truly outcompete BONKBot in the long run. We must observe whether the average lifecycle (and trading volume) of Pumpfun tokens increases with team issuance. If not, and if the update merely leads to 'team pump and dump,' then Pumpfun may still not address its core issues while BONKBot continues to lead in key metrics like trading volume and fee revenue.

Summary

The core of the competition between Pumpfun and BONKBot lies in the rivalry over community incentives and platform trust. BONKBot gained an early advantage with high fees sharing (1%) and an ecosystem buyback mechanism, while Pumpfun has recently attempted to win back lost users through 'Group Coins' (multisig team issuance) and minimal sharing (0.05%).

Pumpfun's 'Group Coins' update is a key moment in this competition. It indicates that Pumpfun is shifting from pure speed and 'Christmas tree' issuance to a more grounded strategy, arguably borrowing from BONKBot's community-first approach.

This is good news for meme coin traders on Solana: competition is forcing each platform to improve their issuance methods, introduce fairer reward mechanisms, and drive more innovation. If Pumpfun can seize this momentum, it now has the opportunity to narrow the gap with BONKBot. Keep a close eye on the coming weeks; community sentiment has shifted from outright hostility to a mix of hope and skepticism.

Ultimately, Pumpfun's latest initiatives might level the playing field with BONKBot by the end of 2025. The meme coin market on Solana is expected to remain volatile and highly competitive, but it may be healthier compared to a few months ago.

If 'Group Coins' succeed, the era of single-person Christmas tree scams may gradually fade away, and we will see more team-driven meme projects vying for the next hundredfold returns, providing traders with new opportunities on Pumpfun and BONKBot.

As the era of 'team tokens' unfolds, we will continue to monitor relevant developments. But for now, this competition is far from over, and for those of us involved, it's a bullish signal.