Coinpaprika 2025-05-11 14:23:21

Solana's Meme Coin Frenzy: 98% of Pump.fun Tokens Are Scams

A recent report from Solidus Labs has revealed that 98.6% of tokens launched on Pump.fun —a Solana-based platform for creating meme coins—are likely rug pulls or pump-and-dump schemes. Out of more than 7 million tokens issued between January 2024 and March 2025, only about 97,000 maintained liquidity above $1,000 , indicating how few survive beyond initial hype. Solana’s low fees and easy-to-use decentralized exchanges have made it a breeding ground for speculative tokens. Pump.fun has emerged as the main platform fueling this trend, regularly hitting $100 million in daily trading volume , mostly from short-lived meme coin activity. The platform uses a bonding curve model in its automated market maker (AMM), where each token purchase raises the price exponentially. While this benefits early buyers and creators, it often leaves later participants with steep losses once liquidity vanishes. Additionally, some users manipulate the system with “same-block sniping” strategies—profiting by placing trades in the same block their tokens are created. Solidus also reviewed activity on Raydium, another Solana-based exchange. It found that 93% of 388,000 liquidity pools showed signs of soft rug pulls—sudden liquidity removals causing prices to crash. Although 25% of these scams involved small sums under $732, some losses were far greater, with one case reaching $1.9 million. Pump.fun's rising popularity has also led to legal scrutiny. It currently faces two class-action lawsuits alleging securities violations and excessive fee collection. In late 2024, the platform had to shut down its livestream feature after users misused it to promote scam tokens, leading to a $22 million drop in weekly revenue.