Pump.fun Launches PumpSwap DEX, Moves Away from Raydium
Pump.fun has introduced its own decentralized exchange (DEX), PumpSwap, signaling a shift away from Raydium as the primary trading platform for Solana (SOL) memecoins.
Instant Migration and Reduced Friction
Starting March 20, memecoins that successfully bootstrap liquidity (“bond”) on Pump.fun will migrate directly to PumpSwap instead of Raydium. Previously, bonded tokens moved to Raydium, which had become Solana’s leading DEX largely due to memecoin trading.
PumpSwap operates similarly to Raydium V4 and Uniswap V2, aiming to provide a frictionless trading environment. According to Pump.fun, migrations now occur instantly and without cost, eliminating previous complexities and momentum disruptions.
Competition Intensifies in Solana’s Memecoin Market
The launch of PumpSwap follows Raydium’s recent announcement of its own memecoin launchpad, LaunchLab, designed to compete directly with Pump.fun. This shift from partnership to competition could significantly reshape Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape.
“We welcome competition because users win at the end of the day,” said Alon, a Pump.fun co-founder.
Other emerging platforms, including Daos.fun, GoFundMeme, and Pumpkin, are also competing for market share. PumpSwap plans to adopt revenue-sharing features popularized by GoFundMeme, allocating a portion of protocol revenue to memecoin creators to incentivize higher-quality launches.
Declining Memecoin Activity
Memecoin trading activity has significantly declined since January highs, following several scandals that dampened retail trader enthusiasm. Pump.fun’s daily fee revenue dropped from over $4 million in January to approximately $1 million by mid-March, according to DeFiLlama data.
Despite the recent downturn, memecoins were instrumental in Solana’s explosive growth in 2024, boosting the chain’s total value locked (TVL) from around $1.4 billion to over $9 billion. Raydium benefited greatly, with daily trading volumes rising from $245 million to over $2 billion during the same period.
Quick Summary
- Pump.fun launches PumpSwap DEX, moving away from Raydium.
- Instant, free migration of bonded memecoins to PumpSwap.
- Raydium responds with its own memecoin launchpad, LaunchLab.
- Competition increases among Solana-based memecoin platforms.
- Memecoin trading activity and revenues have declined significantly since January.
