"The King is dead, long live the King": The power transition of the Solana memecoin platform

"The king is dead, long live the king." This proclamation once echoed in the courts of 18th century France. When a king passes away, the nobles quickly turn to the new monarch; this is not cold-bloodedness, but a survival instinct. The French deeply understand a truth about power: power never belongs to an individual; it flows like water, always seeking new vessels.

Today, this ancient power ritual is being played out on the memecoin issuance platform on the Solana chain. The former dominant player, Pump.fun, which held 88% of the market share just a month ago, now has only 13% left. The new challenger, Let'sBONK, has captured 86% of the market.

This is not just another manifestation of volatility in the crypto world, but a typical case of an empire's collapse: when neglecting attention is the ultimate moat, no matter how great the first-mover advantage, it can instantly vanish.

!7388151

The Rise and Fall of the Pump.fun Empire

Pump.fun was launched in January 2024 by three young people in their twenties, with the core idea being: users can issue a token for less than 2 dollars by simply uploading an image, giving it a name, and clicking a few times, without any programming knowledge.

It satisfies a fundamental impulse to turn "worthless" things into "valuable" things. By January 2025, Pump.fun has generated over $458 million in revenue, launching thousands of new coins daily, with peak daily revenue exceeding $7 million.

!7388153

However, the tragedy began with one of its most innovative features: live streaming. Originally intended to allow token issuers to promote their tokens, the situation quickly spiraled out of control. Starting in November 2024, in a bid for attention, some users engaged in extreme behaviors during live streams, including simulating self-harm and threatening suicide. In the most severe incident, a minor brandished a shotgun in front of the camera to threaten their family, just to drive up the token price.

Pump.fun was forced to shut down its live streaming feature, but its reputation has already taken a hit. Weekly revenue plummeted by 66%, public opinion turned against them, and competitors seized the opportunity to enter the market. Faced with declining revenue and competitive pressure, Pump.fun decided to rescue itself by issuing tokens (ICO).

This ICO can be considered successful on a technical level: it raised $500 million from over 10,000 wallets in 12 minutes, plus $700 million from private placements. However, a deeper analysis reveals numerous issues: a large amount of funds is concentrated in the hands of a few big players, with full unlock and only a brief transfer restriction, aggressive token economics, and 67% held by the project team.

The token price quickly dropped after a brief rise, falling into a "death spiral". Despite users generating nearly $750 million for the platform, there were no immediate community rewards. Meanwhile, private investors dumped a large number of tokens onto the exchange, creating significant selling pressure.

The final blow came when co-founder Alon Cohen publicly announced the cancellation of the long-promised airdrop. The token price plummeted by 15% within 24 hours.

!7388154

The Rise of Let'sBONK

When Pump.fun is in crisis, Let'sBONK is quietly building everything that its competitors lack: transparency, community orientation, and clear communication.

Currently, Let'sBONK's daily income has reached 1.3 million USD, which is 5 times that of Pump.fun. Annualized, Let'sBONK's monthly income amounts to 434.92 million USD, while Pump.fun's is 267.25 million USD.

Since the ICO, the PUMP token has dropped 60% in market value, while BONK has remained relatively stable with a market value of 2.1 billion dollars. Let's BONK will use 1% of its revenue each week to buy back BONK, supporting this ecological token that predates the platform and has a solid foundation.

!7388155

The Outcome of Attention Economy

Pump.fun once gained an advantage through network effects, but attention is fragile. An incident during a live broadcast gave users reason to try alternative platforms. Let'sBONK quickly became the "clean" choice, a platform without a historical burden.

This reminds us of the story of Myspace losing to Facebook. Myspace had features and scale, but lost the cultural narrative. Facebook became the platform for "real users," while Myspace became synonymous with spam, a chaotic interface, and marginalization.

Pump.fun launched a counterattack after realizing the crisis: increasing the token buyback ratio from 25% of daily revenue to 100% and introducing a 30-day incentive plan. However, these tactical adjustments cannot restore the lost trust and user attention.

In contrast, Let'sBONK has built a truly user-interest-aligned ecological reward system. Users can lock up their assets to receive a share of the product ecosystem's revenue and can also earn "Bonk points" through various means. This is not about "spending money to get people to trade," but rather "paying to let users co-build."

!7388156

A Bigger Picture

In the digital market, a dominant position can vanish into thin air in just a few months. The controversial history of the co-founder of Pump.fun has further exacerbated the trust crisis. The success of Let'sBONK stems more from its entry into the market when Pump.fun's reputation was at its most vulnerable, rather than from technological advantages.

Is there still a chance for Pump.fun to turn things around? Despite a significant shrinkage in market share, they still have some advantages: ample capital reserves, mature technological capabilities, and brand recognition. A recent series of actions also indicates that they have not given up: the launch of Pump.fun 2.0, increasing the buyback ratio, and introducing user incentives, among others.

The most likely scenario is market fragmentation, with Let'sBONK becoming the main platform, while Pump.fun transforms into an important player in the niche market. However, to truly turn the tables, Pump.fun must not only solve technical issues or rely on financial incentives to retain users, but must also rebuild trust and reclaim cultural dominance.

As the wisdom of the French court goes: when a king loses legitimacy, no amount of gold and silver or rituals can restore dignity. Only a new ruler can earn the old respect. Sometimes, for the sake of the kingdom's continuity, the crown must be passed to someone new.

!7388157

!7388158

!7388159