The site cemented Solana as the number-one place to launch and trade brand-new memecoins, for better and worse.

Dec 10, 2024, 2:07 p.m. UTC

Solana's status as the top tier memecoin chain is largely due to its ascendant launchpad, Pump.Fun. This minimum viable memecoin factory redefined the way crypto investors create and bet on joke cryptos in 2024. And it's made hundreds of millions of dollars for its founding team along the way.

Over 4 million memecoins have been launched on Pump.Fun since it debuted in the U.K. in early 2024. Its creators Noah Tweedale, Alon Cohen and Dylan Kerler built their website in the native visual language of low-attention span crypto gamblers. Flashing lights and a flood of information bring them in, and eye-catching charts and a social feed keep them hooked.

The result has seen billions of dollars in cryptoeconomic value flowing through tokens whose names would make a compliance department screech. Most of the tokens launched on Pump.Fun never "graduate" to the trading big leagues, and many that do still fail. But some Pump.Fun tokens including PNUT and WIF have reached billion-dollar market capitalizations. That's enough to entice speculators to bet on other tokens in their infancy.

But Pump.Fun's road to the top has had bumps. Weeks ago the website nixed a "video" feature that some token creators had relied on to promote their assets with heinous acts. And, of course, it’s weathered criticism as being a den of gambling. Perhaps most notably, last week the company's hometown regulator effectively banned Pump.Fun from the U.K.

But the tokens keep coming, and so does the cash.

This profile is part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2024 package. For all of this year's nominees, click here.