Memecoins have surged in popularity, attracting a wave of new users to the cryptocurrency space, but a recent report by Galaxy Research reveals that the significant profits generated are primarily reaped by the platforms that facilitate the launch and trading of these tokens. While many traders participate in what is essentially a short-term gambling market, often incurring losses, infrastructure providers such as launchpads, decentralized exchanges, and trading bots are capturing millions in revenue.
The report highlights Solana's Pump.fun, a memecoin launchpad that debuted in early 2024, as a major beneficiary. Tokens launched on this platform represent a combined $4.8 billion in fully diluted market value. Galaxy Research notes that nearly 13 million of the 32 million tokens on Solana were launched through Pump.fun, marking an almost 300% increase in under two years and illustrating the platform's role in streamlining token creation on Solana. On July 12, 2025, Pump.fun launched its own token, PUMP, raising $500 million in under 12 minutes through an initial coin offering (ICO) of 125 billion tokens.
The fast-paced nature of memecoin trading is underscored by the collapse of median hold times for Solana memecoins, dropping from approximately 300 seconds a year earlier to around 100 seconds, highlighting the prevalence of bots and scalpers. Platforms such as Axiom have capitalized on this frenzy, generating over $200 million in fees with a small team, thanks to memecoin activity. Tools like BONKbot and Trojan also generate revenue by charging users for automated "sniping" of new tokens at launch.
While memecoins offer little utility beyond cultural value, platforms like Pump.fun continue to thrive. This has led to some projects dropping "the pretense of being about fun and community". BullZilla's website, for example, states that "every $100k raised increases price,”.
In its 2025 Global Adoption Index, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reported growing adoption rates across almost all main jurisdictions, as well as across all income brackets.
Despite the inherent risks, the memecoin market has demonstrated remarkable profitability in 2025. During the first five months of the year, the meme category recorded an average profit and loss (PnL) of +33.08%, making it the only category with positive returns. While 81.18% of meme projects experienced losses, this was the second-lowest failure rate across all sectors, only behind Real World Assets (RWA).
As of June 11, 2025, Pump.fun had witnessed the launch of 5,897,541 new meme coins. This figure represents more than a tenfold increase compared to the total number of new tokens launched across decentralized exchanges by early April 2024. An average of 36,405 new meme tokens were created on Pump.fun daily, a 3.5x increase from 2024’s average.
The popularity of memecoins has also led to celebrity involvement, sometimes with controversial results. Donald Trump, for example, has been associated with the official Trump Coin ($TRUMP). Only 20% of the token's total supply is in circulation, with the remaining 80% held by Trump and his business partners, who also profit from transaction fees.
While success stories exist, such as the trader who turned $96 into over $3 million in a year, or another who turned $2.42M into $3.94M by trading Cat in a Dogs World (MEW), the memecoin market remains volatile and requires careful timing and attention.
