Pump.fun faces $22m revenue drop amid live streaming controversy

Pump.fun, the popular Solana-based meme coin flip blog, has seen its fortunes plummet after a series of alarming incidents involving its live streaming feature.

The platform appears to be grappling with the fallout from the decision to temporarily halt its live streaming feature after users broadcast disturbing content in an attempt to boost their listing values.

Nosedives weekly income

Information from decentralized finance (DeFi) data aggregator DefiLlama shows that between November 18 and November 24, Pump.fun generated an impressive $33.83 million in revenue, the highest since its launch in early 2024.

The number represented a 60% increase from the previous week and a 400% jump since early November as the meme coin craze reached the broader crypto market. However, the following week saw a spectacular $22.52 million take, with revenue falling to $11.31 million, the lowest the platform has seen since late October.

Despite the drop, the $82.78 million raised in November by DefiLlama remains the highest amount Pump.fun has raised in a 30-day period since going public. Monthly returns have risen steadily since March, with only a slight contraction in September, when they fell to $14.41 million, being the only blip. During that time, the meme coin launcher has earned over $227 million in revenue.

The drop in weekly revenue was also accompanied by a significant drop in the number of tokens released on Pump.fun during this period. On November 30th, according to Dune data, only 34,359 were created, a 50% drop from the record 69,046 set just ten days earlier on November 20th.

Exploitative live broadcasts

The decline came against the backdrop of Pump.fun’s decision to suspend its live streaming feature amid growing concerns about harmful behavior. Originally intended to help developers promote their projects, some apparently abused the feature by posting acts ranging from threats of self-harm to extreme violence.

One incident involved a developer claiming he would kill himself if his token didn’t reach a specific market cap. At the same time, another allegedly threatened to harm a pet in exchange for the success of his project.

In another incident, a user had to be hospitalized for several days after suffering severe burns when he doused himself with isopropyl alcohol and set off fireworks during a live stream to promote the TruthOrDare (DARE) meme coin.

However, following the public outcry, the Pump.fun team issued a community note on November 24, acknowledging the disturbing nature of the events. They also announced that they would be indefinitely pausing the platform’s live streaming feature, promising to work on their moderation tools to prevent such content from airing in the future.

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