Pump.fun is preparing a major update to its creator fee system after determining that the current structure encouraged token creation over healthy market activity, according to co-founder Alon Cohen.
In a post on X on Friday, Cohen said the Solana-based memecoin launchpad had concluded that its Dynamic Fees V1 model, introduced several months ago, delivered short-term growth but failed to support sustainable trading behavior.
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“Creator fees need change,” Cohen wrote, adding that while the system boosted participation, it ultimately skewed incentives away from traders — the primary drivers of liquidity and volume on the platform.
Pump.fun’s bonding curve volume. Source: Alon Cohen
Early momentum gave way to structural flaws
Cohen said the original fee model initially appeared successful. New creators launched tokens rapidly, livestreamed deployments, and contributed to what he described as some of the strongest onchain conditions seen on Pump.fun in 2025.
During that early phase, bonding curve volumes more than doubled, based on charts shared by Cohen. However, the surge proved temporary. Over time, the system encouraged low-risk token minting rather than higher-risk, liquidity-dependent trading activity.
That imbalance, Cohen argued, posed long-term risks. Traders provide the depth and volume that keep markets functional, and deprioritizing them weakens the overall ecosystem.
Fees favored minting, not market building
According to Cohen, creator fees worked well for a limited subset of serious projects with active teams. For most memecoin deployers, however, the fees became a blunt incentive to mint tokens without committing to market development.
He also pointed to usability issues. In many cases, users were forced to rely on community takeovers, trust informal promises, or navigate unclear ownership structures — all of which reduced confidence and consistency across launches.
Pump.fun’s leadership acknowledged that these frictions undermined user experience and contributed to the platform’s incentive mismatch.
New fee-sharing system targets flexibility and transparency
To address these issues, Pump.fun is rolling out a revamped creator fee model. The first phase introduces fee sharing, allowing creators and community takeover administrators to distribute fees across up to 10 wallets after launch.
Teams will also be able to transfer coin ownership and revoke update authority, giving projects clearer governance and reducing reliance on informal arrangements.
Cohen emphasized that Pump.fun itself will not collect any creator fees. The system is designed exclusively for project teams and community participants. Fees can be claimed at any time and do not expire if left unclaimed.
Pump.fun strengthens its lead in Solana memecoins
Pump.fun has become the dominant memecoin launchpad on Solana by combining low-friction token creation with a standardized path to liquidity. While rival LetsBonk briefly overtook it in volume and revenue in July, Pump.fun quickly regained momentum.
Aggressive PUMP token buybacks and changes under its Project Ascend payout initiative helped the platform reclaim market share. By late summer, data showed Pump.fun accounting for roughly 75% to 80% of Solana’s
memecoin launches.
The new fee overhaul signals a broader shift toward prioritizing sustainable liquidity and trader participation as competition among Solana launchpads intensifies.