Tron meme coin deployer SunPump has attracted a lot of attention by generating over $1.1 million in revenue days after its launch. Despite the platform's success, there is still growing skepticism about the sustainability of meme coins, particularly as data shows that most traders on similar platforms like Solana's Pump.fun are losing money. Meanwhile, Solana's Dumpy.fun is launching a new tool to capitalize on heavily shorted tokens.
SunPump Gains Traction
SunPump, a new meme coin deployer on the Tron blockchain, has very quickly turned heads in the crypto space by generating more than $1.1 million in revenue just 11 days after its launch. According to data from Dune, the Justin Sun-backed platform has brought in a total of 8 million Tron (TRX) since its debut on Aug. 9.
SunPump revenue since launch (Source: Dune)
SunPump's biggest revenue day so far was on Aug. 20, when it earned almost 2.78 million TRX, which is equivalent to $400,000. Additionally, more than 6,000 meme coins were created that day. On the same day, Sun also announced on X that SunPump was temporarily down because of "unprecedented traffic," but the platform was up and running roughly an hour later.
The launch of SunPump has led to a surge in liquidity on the Tron blockchain, which was also boosted by a $10 million allocation from Sun’s Meme Ecosystem Boost Incentive Program. Tether also minted another 1 billion USDT tokens on the Tron blockchain on Aug. 20.
DefiLlama indicates that Tron has seen its revenue soar over the past few days. In fact, Tron generated $3.84 million in the past 24 hours, which was more than double the $1.06 million from the previous day.
Despite the success, the value of meme coins are still a topic of debate in the crypto community. Specifically, skeptics point out things like the fact that most traders on the Solana meme coin launching platform Pump.fun have lost money. Over 1.7 million tokens have been launched on Pump.fun since January, but very few ever reached a total value exceeding $63,000.
During an Aug. 13 panel discussion at Canada’s Futurists conference, Appchain Noble CEO Jelena Djuric shared their own skepticism about the longevity of meme coins, despite their ongoing popularity. However, Justin Sun is still very optimistic about the future of meme coins, and recently stated in a social media post that their success is not accidental. He believes that when developers can build communities through fair launches and gain widespread support, these communities can share in the success of the cryptocurrency.
Meme Coin Skepticism Grows
Meme coin skepticism has intensified even more this week because of the decline in Solana-based meme coin trading volumes and the fact that most traders on Pump.fun are actually losing money. In an Aug. 19 newsletter, Messari data engineer Mike Kremer added his voice to the ongoing debate, and called meme coins the "most extractive crypto phenomenon" since the 2017 ICO boom.
According to Kremer, speculative bubbles have always been part of the crypto ecosystem, and past fads like DeFi Summer left behind some residual value as projects like Uniswap Labs launched protocols that provided real utility. In contrast, Kremer believes that meme coins have a "far more destructive dynamic," where insiders create tokens, hype them, and lure retail investors into buying them. Once the price inflates, insiders dump their holdings, leaving the tokens with no real value or utility. Overall. This then leads to a zero-sum game where value is not just redistributed but destroyed.
Kermer shared his opinions as there have been growing concerns about Solana meme coin deployer Pump.fun, which has been accused of making meme coins more treacherous and dilutive than before. Since its launch in January, millions of new tokens have been deployed on the platform, but less than 1.5% were able to reach a total value of more than $63,000.
Recent data also suggests that 60% of Pump.fun traders have lost money, and only 3% ended up netting gains of more than $1,000. However, there is ongoing debate about the accuracy of this data, with some arguing that it does not account for realized gains.
There has also been a sharp decline in Solana-based meme coin trading volumes, which have dropped by as much as 80% in the past two weeks. Additionally, a CoinShares report revealed that Solana exchange-traded products experienced a record $39 million in outflows.
Solanan meme coins weekly trading volume (Source: Dune)
The jury is still out on whether meme coins are actually beneficial for the crypto ecosystem. Alon, the pseudonymous developer of Pump.fun, argues that the market sees the lower costs of meme coin deployment as a positive, which is certainly supported by the platform's high activity. Alon believes that meme coins are becoming more accessible, which makes it much easier for outsiders to join the crypto market. He also claims that each iteration of new meme coin technology reduces the risk of scams and prepares the sector for mass adoption.
Others also argue that meme coins offer an "easy" entry point for newcomers, despite the risks involved. In April, Avalanche founder Emin Gün Sirer shared that while meme coins may be inherently worthless, they still serve a purpose in "social signaling" and forming strong crypto communities.
He believes that meme coins are beneficial for the space as they attract and engage people. In December, Avalanche even announced that it will start using its $100 million community fund that was originally launched to support NFT artists, to buy meme coins.
Solana's Dumpy.fun Launches Short-Squeeze Tool
Meanwhile, a Solana protocol that was initially designed to short meme coins is launching a new app that will allow users to go long on heavily shorted tokens. The Dumpy.fun protocol is well known for its profitable meme coin shorting platform. It announced on Aug. 20 that it will launch a short-squeeze tool called “squeezy.lol” on Aug. 27. This new tool is set to introduce a "new era of PVP," referring to the aggressive player vs. player trading style encouraged by meme coins.
Squeezy.lol will make it possible for meme coin traders to take advantage of heavily shorted tokens by using the “squeeze explorer,” a feature that points out the most shorted meme coins. This tool will help investors to identify these assets and potentially trigger a “short squeeze” by mobilizing meme coin communities.
A short squeeze happens when the price of a heavily shorted asset rises rapidly, which forces short sellers to buy more of the asset to cover their positions.
Dumpy.fun has been allowing users to short Solana meme coins with small amounts of leverage, which has been quite profitable for many traders given the recent sharp decline in the prices of Solana-based meme coins. Traders short tokens by betting that the price of an asset will decline. However, when the price rises quickly, it can result in serious losses for short sellers. This was the case in 2021 with the GameStop saga, where retail traders forced hedge funds to liquidate their short positions.
Dumpy.fun currently supports 11 meme coins, including Dogwifhat (WIF), Wen (WEN), and Bonk (BONK). The platform has also announced plans to introduce permissionless listings, which allows users to short newly created tokens of their choice.
DOGS Token Generation Event Postponed
The token generation event (TGE) for the DOGS meme coin has been postponed from Aug. 23 to Aug. 26 because of overwhelming demand and a record number of claim requests. The delay happened after more than 8 million verified users registered for direct deposits to their exchange wallets and Telegram Wallet. The TGE was originally scheduled for 12 p.m. UTC on Aug. 23, but was pushed back to make sure all users have enough time to claim their tokens.
DOGS Telegram message (Source: Telegram)
DOGS has been trending on X as major crypto exchanges are preparing to list the token. However, this latest delay is already the second postponement of the TGE due to high demand. It was previously delayed after 6 million requests led to the addition of more withdrawal options.
