Pump.fun put a new fee arrangement in place that aims to align incentives and decrease the typical turnover of memecoin projects. In the first 24 hours the arrangement gave creators about $2 million, showing immediate value transfer to issuers. The change seeks to convert trading actions into a regular income source for token issuers by connecting fees to market performance.
The Proposal: Dynamic Fees V1
The proposal, called Dynamic Fees V1 or “Project Ascend” adjusts the fee per trade based on market capitalization amounts. The structure gives the most rewards to project creators who reach some market acceptance and includes a revenue-share method that assigns a part of trading fees directly to issuers, creating a steady flow linked to market volume.
How It Works
The design has two clear goals: to encourage developers to keep and improve their tokens, and to decrease the “pump-and-dump” approach by rewarding continuation. In practice, creators who reach specific capitalization amounts receive better rates for each trade on their token, which turns trading volume into reliable income and incentivizes long-term maintenance and development.
First 24 Hours
The first day of operation resulted in a payout near $2 million, demonstrating the mechanism’s ability to send value to issuers during high activity. Previous platform data shows that most creators receive small incomes, which suggests the benefits will likely concentrate in projects with greater awareness and available liquidity.
Main Benefits
The main benefits include stronger incentives for lasting effort, conversion of trading volume into regular income for active creators, and a tiered signal of quality for tokens with actual traction and community support. By rewarding continuation and post-launch advancement, the model aims to foster durability in projects that might otherwise follow short-term pump cycles.
Risks and Concerns
The model does not remove the speculative aspect of memecoins and still carries risks of benefit concentration and potential manipulation if on-chain checks and governance are not sufficiently strong. Additionally, money paid to issuers raises regulatory questions in jurisdictions that might consider such payments as financial dealings or services requiring oversight, highlighting the need for stronger anti-abuse measures.
Financial Independence and Support for Small Creators
If implemented with transparency and robust security, the structure can strengthen the economic independence of individual developers by providing monetization choices outside centralized platforms. However, protecting small creators will require public distribution numbers, improved resilience to attacks, and governance enhancements to ensure fair distribution and prevent gaming of the system.
The initial $2 million payout confirms the mechanism’s ability to deliver value to creators and align incentives, but its long-term success depends on greater openness, stronger safety checks, and measures to prevent concentrated benefits. For the change to truly support a lasting and decentralized ecosystem, Pump.fun must pair the launch with audits, public data, and anti-manipulation actions to protect smaller projects and preserve market integrity.
