Pump.fun vs. Raydium: A Memecoin War on Solana

Pump.fun and Raydium: From Partners to Rivals

Reminder: Pump.fun is a platform for creating and trading memecoins. Raydium is a decentralized exchange (DEX). Both protocols are deployed on the Solana blockchain.

Until recently, Pump.fun and Raydium enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. Pump.fun served as the launchpad for memecoins, while Raydium allowed them to be traded on the open market once they reached the critical $69,000 market cap threshold.

The 2024 memecoin boom directly benefited both platforms, enabling them to generate substantial revenue:

• Pump.fun facilitated the creation of over 2 million tokens in a single year, attracting 13 million users and generating over $600 million in revenue.
• Raydium earned nearly $80 million in trading fees, with 41% of that revenue directly tied to Pump.fun tokens (according to Blockworks Research).

However, tensions arose when rumors began to circulate that Pump.fun was developing its own AMM—posing a direct threat to Raydium’s business model and declaring war between the two platforms.

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Raydium Launches LaunchLab

On March 19, Raydium surprised the ecosystem by announcing LaunchLab, its own memecoin launchpad designed to directly compete with Pump.fun. The announcement came just as speculation was mounting about Pump.fun building an AMM. Rather than wait and risk losing a major revenue stream, Raydium struck first.

LaunchLab is a permissionless token launch platform on Solana, integrating a customizable bonding curve system. Contrary to early assumptions, LaunchLab is not just a fork of Pump.fun—it’s an optimized version with multiple enhancements:

• A more advanced bonding curve system: supports linear, exponential, and logarithmic curves, giving token creators more control over launch dynamics.
• Support for multiple tokens: While Pump.fun only uses SOL, LaunchLab allows the use of jitoSOL, stablecoins, and other tokens as quote assets.
• Advanced liquidity management: Includes integration with Raydium v4 AMM, a liquidity locker via NFTs, and improved revenue-sharing models for creators.

According to @0xINFRA, a Core Contributor at Raydium, this move is "not a war against Pump.fun, but a way to diversify token launch options on Solana."

Nevertheless, this marked a major strategic shift: within hours, Raydium turned Pump.fun from a passive ally into a direct competitor. And the very next day, Pump.fun struck back with an even more aggressive announcement.

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Pump.fun Strikes Back with PumpSwap

On March 20, just one day after LaunchLab’s reveal, Pump.fun responded with the announcement of PumpSwap, a native AMM that officially ended its reliance on Raydium and other DEXs. The announcement was made directly on X, with the team stating: “Starting now, all tokens completing their bonding curve will migrate directly to PumpSwap.”

PumpSwap is an AMM integrated into Pump.fun, designed to streamline and optimize the trading experience for memecoin users on Solana. It’s built on the model of Uniswap v2 and Raydium v4, but brings several key improvements:

• Instant migrations: No more waiting or complex token transfers to Raydium—everything happens in one click.
• Zero migration fees: Whereas transitioning to Raydium cost 6 SOL, Pump.fun has eliminated these costs entirely.
• More liquidity within Pump.fun: Creators and traders stay within the Pump.fun ecosystem, increasing its liquidity and control over trading flows.
• A redesigned economic model: 0.25% trading fee, split between LPs and the protocol, plus a forthcoming “Creator Revenue Sharing” system, where a portion of fees will be redistributed to token creators.

The objective is clear: capture 100% of the value generated by memecoins and stop sharing profits with Raydium. In just 24 hours, the market dynamic shifted—Raydium, Solana’s flagship DEX, has lost one of its most significant sources of volume and revenue.

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A War for a Shrinking Market?

Pump.fun or Raydium: Who Will Win?

The big question now is: who will emerge as the dominant player in the memecoin sector after this breakup?

On one side, Pump.fun has a clear first-mover advantage. It’s the symbol of Solana’s memecoin explosion—the platform that democratized and dominated the space. Its pivot to PumpSwap allows it to capture 100% of token-generated revenue and end its dependency on external DEXs.

On the other side, Raydium is far from a minor player. As one of Solana’s largest DEXs, it has the infrastructure, liquidity, and reputation to stand on its own. LaunchLab has the potential to attract a new wave of memecoin creators and traders.

A Battle in an Empty Arena?

However, the real issue may lie elsewhere. Since January 2025, the memecoin market has cooled significantly. The number of tokens reaching migration (i.e., completing their bonding curve on Pump.fun) has plummeted from 1,200 per day to fewer than 200, and none have reached a $1M market cap in recent days.

Repeated scandals have rocked the Solana ecosystem, especially following the launch of TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins, which collectively cost traders at least $2B, along with the LIBRA token crash ($4.4B in market cap wiped in hours) and TRUMP again ($2B lost).

This drop in interest has led to a collapse in activity on both Raydium and especially Pump.fun, whose daily revenue has fallen 95%, from a record $15.38M on January 25 to around $1M in March.

Ultimately, while Raydium and Pump.fun are waging a strategic war, they may be doing so on a deserted battlefield. The memecoin market appears to have entered a cooling phase, which could make this rivalry far less consequential than it seems.

The real question may no longer be who wins this war—but whether the memecoin market can bounce back. Without renewed speculation, neither Raydium nor Pump.fun will truly win.

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So, Who’s the Real Winner in This War?

The user. It might sound paradoxical, but in this battle between Pump.fun and Raydium, it’s arguably the market—and by extension, the users—who stand to gain the most. Several key points highlight this dynamic:

The End of a Monopoly, a More Competitive Market

Until now, Pump.fun dominated the memecoin scene on Solana, and Raydium directly benefited from that dominance by capturing most of the resulting liquidity. Today, both monopolies have been broken.

This rivalry is birthing a more competitive environment. And in any market, competition ultimately benefits users. Protocols can no longer set their own rules at the user’s expense—they’ll need to offer better conditions, smoother UX… and in crypto, financial incentives.

Can Pump.fun Play the Airdrop Card?

Despite Raydium’s clear weight in the Solana ecosystem, Pump.fun holds a powerful weapon its rival used years ago: the airdrop.

For months, rumors of a Pump.fun token have swirled, and so far, the only “token launch” came from a hack of the protocol’s official X account.

If Pump.fun wants to prevent liquidity from migrating to Raydium, a points program or major airdrop could be a strategic response. Conversely, if liquidity moves from Raydium to Pump.fun, the top DEX on Solana could be in trouble even without an airdrop.

Again, this is speculative—but DeFi history shows how platforms like Blur dethroned giants like OpenSea by draining their liquidity with well-timed airdrops.

What’s Next?

In any case, this rivalry will force both protocols to innovate and roll out aggressive strategies to acquire and retain users. Pump.fun and Raydium are now locked in a power struggle, and the coming months will be critical—especially if the memecoin market doesn’t recover.

But let’s not forget: memecoin speculation remains extremely risky. Whether it’s via Pump.fun or Raydium, this market is unpredictable and carries immense risk of partial or total capital loss.

One thing’s for sure: now that war has broken out, the former partners turned rivals have no choice but to go on the offensive.