Pump.fun, Solana’s memecoin launchpad, has achieved an all-time high weekly trading volume of $3.3 billion. The release of Trump-themed memecoins, which sparked a crypto frenzy, partially drove this spike.
On January 23, trading volumes hit $544 million in a single day, setting a new record and adding to the excitement around memecoin speculation. Around January 18, President Trump announced his own TRUMP memecoin, and the establishment of a MELANIA token quickly followed, triggering the spike. These tokens sparked a surge of similar memecoins, with numerous cryptocurrency inventors scrambling to cash in on the frenzy.
According to security firm Blockaid, the number of cryptocurrencies with the word “Trump” in their names has increased significantly, from 3,300 to 6,800. However, investors deemed many of these new currencies misleading due to their similar branding and tickers. Trump has only confirmed the official TRUMP and MELANIA tokens, but rumors about more tokens related to his family members have fueled interest.
One of the most dramatic surges came from a “Barron Trump” token, which temporarily reached a valuation of $27 million before plunging back to $4 million. Despite its extreme volatility, the launchpad’s rapid expansion has sparked both enthusiasm and criticism. Bot activity on Solana has been connected to fraudulent trade volume inflation, a method utilized by memecoin founders to get attention.
As Pump.fun approaches $500 million in total revenue, it risks legal scrutiny from investors who have been hurt by the volatility and rug pulls associated with particular coins. In response to rising concerns, the platform has now removed its contentious livestream feature, which had become a hub for dramatic techniques to inflate token prices.
