In July 2025, the pump.fun platform held one of the most high-profile token sales in crypto history. In just 12 minutes, the project raised $500 million, selling only 12.5% of the total token supply. According to Split Capital, actual demand exceeded $2 billion.
However, less than two weeks after the public sale, the PUMP token dropped 64% from its peak price of $0.0067. Despite a spectacular start, investors began exiting the asset, and market sentiment quickly shifted from euphoria to growing caution.
Against this backdrop, a key event was an interview with pump.fun co-founder Alan Cohen, who attempted to clarify the project’s strategy and address the community’s concerns. Yet, judging by the market’s reaction, his appearance failed to serve as a turning point.
We reviewed Cohen’s statements, analyzed the PUMP token’s trajectory, and assessed the launchpad’s current market position.
Mr. Cohen at the Mic
On July 23, 2025, Alan Cohen appeared on ThreadGuy’s Twitch channel in an interview that became a major talking point for PUMP holders and everyone following the platform’s development.
The conversation covered a wide range of topics — from the long-awaited airdrop to the team’s strategy in a highly competitive environment. While Cohen didn’t provide exact timelines or technical details, he gave some insight into the direction the project is heading.
One of the key messages was that the airdrop is still planned, but not imminent.
According to Cohen, the current priority is building a sustainable growth model and strengthening the ecosystem. This approach, he emphasized, is meant to ensure that the airdrop becomes a meaningful reward for contributors rather than a one-time event that triggers a dump and speculative behavior.
“When it comes to the airdrop — as we promised at TGE, it will happen. This should not be a surprise. We will keep our word, and our goal is to reward the community that helped build a platform that has thrived for the past year, year and a half,” said Cohen.
Alon answered what went wrong with the $PUMP launch
And what it really needs to hit a new ATH
(2/9) pic.twitter.com/atH6mQkb7C
— StarPlatinum (@StarPlatinumSOL) July 23, 2025
He stressed that the airdrop would be “significant” and “well-organized,” taking into account not only the technical side but also behavioral risks associated with mass token withdrawals and selloffs.
The team, he noted, understands how delicate the balance is between rewarding users and creating short-term market pressure. That’s why the launch will be postponed until all parameters and mechanics are fully optimized.
Still, specific details — such as selection criteria, snapshots, allocation size, or technical requirements — were not disclosed. This led to disappointment among some in the audience who had hoped for clearer signals or a concrete roadmap. Online discussions and forums described the appearance as “vague” and “typical PR without substance.”
Cohen also tried to offer a broader view of pump.fun’s product development. He highlighted the team’s focus on improving the user experience and onboarding, not just for existing users but also for newcomers exploring the Solana memecoin culture.
He emphasized the importance of the community, which continues to use the platform despite the high volatility of the market.
“Right now we’re focused on bringing attention and interest back to our ecosystem. It won’t be a fast process, but we believe it’s necessary,” said the pump.fun co-founder.
Alon says he believes it’s possible to x10 the volume of 2024 levels.
(7/9) pic.twitter.com/VKtnG8FoYC
— StarPlatinum (@StarPlatinumSOL) July 23, 2025
It’s worth noting that monetization plans or use of the $722 million in revenue (excluding token sale proceeds) were barely discussed. Cohen only briefly mentioned that the team has the resources to scale and grow, but again, without timelines or formalized initiatives. He expressed optimism, claiming pump.fun volumes could grow 10x compared to last year, yet offered no concrete explanation of how that goal would be achieved.
Alon says Pump Fun focus now is better crypto onboarding
With communities at the core
(6/9) pic.twitter.com/hWpDRk6KYE
— StarPlatinum (@StarPlatinumSOL) July 23, 2025
Overall, Cohen’s interview suggested that the team is trying to reset expectations with a more measured and strategic tone. The developers are not promising quick wins, instead betting on structured progress, community trust, and long-term recovery.
The Brutal Market
By the time of Cohen’s appearance, the PUMP token was already under significant pressure.
Following a strong debut — priced at $0.004 during the ICO and peaking at $0.0067 — the token fell below its launch price by July 22. At the time of writing, PUMP trades around $0.0029, according to TradingView.
Major holders, including PUMP Top Fund 1 and Top Fund 2, transferred over $160 million worth of tokens to centralized exchanges. These moves occurred prior to Cohen’s interview, indicating a preexisting trend of profit-taking or position trimming.
The $PUMP price has dropped below its private/public sale price of $0.004.
"PUMP Top Fund 1" spent 100M $USDC to buy 25B $PUMP at $0.004 in the private sale.
So far, he has deposited 17B $PUMP($89.5M) to exchanges via #FalconX and still hold 8B $PUMP($29.58M)."PUMP Top Fund… pic.twitter.com/xibWUaCOxz
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 22, 2025
According to BitMEX data, approximately 60% of token sale participants have either sold or moved their tokens, while only 37% continue to hold. Among them is trader Machi Big Brother, who, despite a loss of over $5.8 million, chose to increase his long position on PUMP.
Nevertheless, the overall market trend remains heavily biased toward sell pressure.
It’s important to note that the price drop was not triggered by the interview. In fact, the decline began earlier — driven by the high unlocked token supply, lack of short-term catalysts, and overall bearish sentiment. However, Cohen’s comment that the airdrop wouldn’t happen anytime soon likely reinforced the negativity and added to the downward pressure.
letsbonk.fun on the Attack
While the pump.fun team leans on long-term strategy, a competitor called letsbonk.fun is taking a much more aggressive approach.
The rise of this new launchpad, developed with input from the BONK community and deployed on Solana, has already shaken up the ecosystem. The platform has rapidly gained market share, even overtaking pump.fun in key metrics.
The launch of the PUMP token was expected to either reignite pump.fun’s momentum or reveal deeper structural issues. So far, the second scenario appears more accurate.
According to Dune Analytics dashboards, letsbonk.fun now controls over 64% of token launch volume on Solana, while pump.fun’s share has shrunk to 24.5%. Just a month ago, those numbers were nearly reversed, with pump.fun dominating over 90% of the market and letsbonk.fun holding around 5%.
Such a dramatic shift in a short period suggests massive user migration and capital flow.
The rise of letsbonk.fun is evident not only in token launch counts but also in trading activity. In the past 24 hours, the platform reported $141 million in trading volume, compared to just $19 million for pump.fun. For context, one month ago pump.fun was posting daily volumes nearly 15x higher than its competitor.
The number of “graduated tokens” — those that passed the initial trading phase — has become another important metric. In mid-July, letsbonk.fun set a record with 282 graduated tokens in a single day, a 20% increase over its previous high. On that date, pump.fun’s share of graduated tokens was just 18%, compared to 79% for letsbonk.fun.
That said, overall market cap of tokens launched via pump.fun still far exceeds letsbonk.fun. According to CoinMarketCap, pump.fun’s launched tokens have a combined market cap of $4.6 billion as of July 24.
letsbonk.fun, by contrast, holds only $390 million in total launched token market cap. However, much of pump.fun’s dominance reflects earlier blockbuster launches — such as Fartcoin, Peanut the Squirrel, and PUMP itself.
Recent performance tells a different story. In the past month, letsbonk.fun tokens are graduating faster and more frequently, capturing momentum in a market now hungry for novelty and speed.
Conclusion
The decline in PUMP’s price and pump.fun’s market share is not the result of a single event, but rather a confluence of factors: high initial unlocks, large investor sell-offs, lack of clear airdrop timelines, and the rapid rise of a strong competitor.
Alan Cohen’s interview outlined a path forward — but offered little for the market to latch onto. In this environment, strategic optimism alone may not be enough. To regain leadership, pump.fun might need greater transparency, new product releases, and stronger engagement with its community.
