Following the controversy around the LIBRA token, Solana-based token launchpad Pump.fun registered significant decreases in weekly values for new users, token launches, and fees collected.
According to a Dune Analytics dashboard by user evelyn233, the number of new users onboarded in the launchpad fell 16.4% to 601,516 from 719,524 between Feb. 7 and Feb. 13. This is the first time since late November that the new users’ daily average within a week fell below 100,000.
Since the LIBRA incident, the number of tokens deployed weekly has decreased by 26.3%, from 344,607 to 253,955. Despite the decrease, Pump.fun has deployed close to 8 million tokens in 13 months as of Feb. 21.
The launchpad’s fees also slumped due to the smaller number of tokens deployed. From Feb. 7 to 13, 124,623 SOL were collected in fees, falling by nearly 32% to 85,196 SOL the following week.
Furthermore, this is the first time since the last week of December that the daily average fees collected within a week fell below 15,000 SOL.
Cooling memecoin market
The LIBRA controversy cooled off the memecoin market on Solana. Javier Milei, President of Argentina, endorsed the memecoin LIBRA on Feb. 14 by saying the token was a way to fund Argentinian ventures.
The token price quickly soared, reaching a $4.5 billion market cap before it crashed 95% over the weekend.
Despite the crash, a report by Nansen highlighted that two wallets profited over $10 million by buying the token a few seconds after Milei posted about LIBRA on X and selling it at its exact peak price of $4.55.
The episode raised questions about insider trading activity in memecoin markets and prompted debates on how memecoins affect Solana’s trustworthiness. This is potentially a key factor behind Pump. fun’s significant slump in numbers over the past week.
As a result of the debates and the current investor unease toward memecoins, this sector fell 13.4% since Feb. 14 as of press time, registering the third-largest drawdown in altcoin sectors in the period per Artemis’ data.
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