Crypto: Pump.fun earns $18.6M despite the fall of memecoins

According to data released by DefiLlama on October 9, 2026, Pump.fun generated $18.64 million in crypto protocol revenue over seven days. Upstream, a study carried out by Coin Metrics reveals that 81% of memecoins have lost at least 90% of their value since their record high. The crypto token launch platform on Solana earns fees on each trade, whether the crypto asset rises or not. According to our calculations, it retains about a third.

Why does the crypto platform Pump.fun make money when memecoins fall?

Because Pump.fun is paid on each crypto transaction, not on the value of the tokens. Over seven days, traders paid $52.5 million in fees. The protocol kept $18.64 million, or 36% (Tremplin.io calculation based on DefiLlama data).

Note that a crypto trader who sells a token at a loss to buy another generates new fees.

For its part, Pump.fun announces in a newsletter published on October 5, 2026 $16.32 million in protocol fees from September 28 to October 4. This represents 20% more in one week.

What does the Coin Metrics study reveal about memecoins?

Crypto data recently released by Coin Metrics clearly show it:

• 81% of the 150 memecoins analyzed have lost at least 90% since their all-time high;
• only 5 digital assets found it.

Recovery essentially does not take place.

Victor Ramirez, Senior Data Scientist, Coin Metrics, report dated October 6, 2026 (translated from English)

Be careful though! This figure does not measure the losses of crypto traders or all of Pump.fun’s tokens. L’sample only includes listed assets on a centralized platform. Which overestimates the lifespan of a launch token.

Do memecoin holders benefit from the gains of the Pump.fun crypto platform?

Not automatically. Since September 12, new tokens can redistribute their fees to holders of more than $20, without guaranteeing to compensate the drop of an abandoned token. There crypto platform Pump.fun devotes 50% of its income to the repurchase and destruction of PUMP. A recent publication shows that the crypto protocol has also been overtaken by a social trading application.

Even PUMP (just like TRUMP and PENGU) is worth less than when it debuted on crypto exchanges, according to Coin Metrics.

One thing is therefore certain: Pump.fun’s revenues follow the turnover of crypto traders, not the rise of tokens already launched. Next dated test: the weekly newsletter from Pump.fun, expected around October 12, 2026. It will say if the 16.32 million dollars for the week ending October 4 are confirmed.