Only 5% of users currently have access to the service while the platform tests its industry-standard moderation tools and updated content policies. This relaunch comes amid a steep decline in meme coin interest and a drop in Pump.fun’s token graduation rate. Meanwhile, stablecoins are booming while activity on Solana and Ethereum has slumped. However, Solana may get a boost from PayPal, which recently added support for SOL and LINK across its crypto services, including Venmo.
Pump.fun Revives Livestreams with New Moderation
Alon Cohen, co-founder of the Solana-based meme coin launchpad Pump.fun, announced the return of livestreaming on the platform. The announcement was made just five months after suspending the feature due to a surge of harmful and extreme content.
In a post on X, Cohen revealed that the feature is being reintroduced with “industry standard moderation systems” and transparent community guidelines. The live-streaming capability has been made available to only 5% of users initially, while the team tests its new safeguards.
The main goal of the revamped moderation policy is to strike a balance between creativity, freedom of expression, and user safety. It bans content involving violence, animal abuse, pornography, and youth endangerment. However, the policy raised quite a few eyebrows for its vague language around what constitutes inappropriate content, and it even acknowledges that much of what is considered NSFW may still appear on the platform. Pump.fun also explicitly reserves the right to determine and moderate content as it sees fit.
The return of the live-streaming feature comes after its very abrupt removal in November of 2024, when the platform became flooded with disturbing broadcasts from meme coin creators who employed increasingly shocking methods to promote their tokens. In some cases, users even threatened violence or self-harm if token prices didn’t meet certain targets. Pump.fun pointed to overwhelming growth and the inability of its moderation team as the main reasons for the suspension. The platform then promised to relaunch only when a robust moderation system was ready.
Mikko Ohtamaa of Trading Strategy previously warned that unmoderated streams could invite regulatory or media scrutiny, and could lead to the platform’s shutdown.
Pump.fun’s move to bring back live streaming is happening as there is a steep decline in meme coin interest. Investors are especially shaken after several high-profile rug pulls, including Libra (LIBRA) and Melania Meme (MELANIA). The Trump (TRUMP) token price also fell by more than 90% from its January peak.
Pump.fun weekly graduation rate (Source: Dune Analytics)
Recent data from Dune Analytics also shed some light on other investor concerns. In fact, the graduation rate of tokens on Pump.fun fell to below 1%, down from 1.67% earlier this year. This means that the number of tokens graduating plummeted from about 5,400 per week in January to under 1,500 in March. It is not just Pump.fun facing struggles as the broader activity on the Solana network has mirrored this drop.
Solana Stumbles While Stablecoins Soar
Stablecoins are showing remarkable resilience and growth despite the broader turbulence in the crypto market, according to asset manager VanEck’s monthly report. While major smart contract platforms like Ethereum and Solana are experiencing very noticeable slowdowns in revenue and activity, stablecoins seem to be entering a bull market of their own.
VanEck’s head of research, Matthew Sigel, explained that ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, particularly surrounding US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies and the potential for a trade war, may be enhancing the strategic appeal of crypto assets — especially stablecoins.
(Source: VanEck)
In March alone, the total market cap of stablecoins grew by closer to $10 billion. This growth was driven by continued adoption and anticipation of new branded stablecoin products from major issuers, including VanEck itself. This surge happened even as average yields on stablecoins dropped significantly. They now range between 3% and 5%, down from highs of around 10% earlier this year. Despite the lower yields, institutional interest remains strong, which is clearly reflected by a 26% increase in the issuance of tokenized Treasury Bills between February and March.
On the other hand, activity on smart contract platforms slumped. Revenues and trading volumes across platforms like Ethereum and Solana fell by 36% and 40% respectively. Solana bore the brunt of this decline, with daily fee revenues dropping 66% and decentralized exchange volumes shrinking by 53% in March.
(Source: VanEck)
After briefly overtaking Ethereum and its layer-2 chains in February, Solana's DEX volume share fell back thanks to the platform’s vulnerability to shifts in meme coin trading activity .
One of the most damaging events happened in February when the Libra meme coin, which was rumored to be linked to Argentine President Javier Milei, lost around $4.4 billion in market value shortly after launch. This scandal, and many others like it, weighed heavily on retail interest and contributed to the decline in trading activity. This was especially the case on Solana-based exchanges.
Despite these headwinds for smart contract platforms, the continued momentum in the stablecoin sector suggests that certain parts of the crypto ecosystem are still firmly in growth mode.
LINK and SOL Join PayPal’s Crypto Lineup
Something that could give the Solana ecosystem a nice boost is the fact that PayPal expanded its cryptocurrency services to include Chainlink (LINK) and Solana (SOL). This offers US-based users the ability to buy, sell, and transfer these tokens.
The new functionality was announced on April 4, and will roll out over the next few weeks and extend to Venmo users as well. Venmo, which is PayPal’s popular mobile payment app, had around 83 million users in 2023, while PayPal’s overall global user base reached approximately 428 million by the end of the year, most of them located in the United States. Currently, PayPal’s crypto services are still exclusive to US residents.
Part of PayPal’s announcement (Source: PayPal newsroom)
According to May Zabaneh, an executive in PayPal’s crypto and blockchain division, the expansion is a response to the increasing consumer interest in digital assets. The addition of LINK and SOL brings PayPal’s total supported crypto assets to seven, including its proprietary payment stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD).
PayPal’s commitment to digital currencies deepened since the 2023 launch of PYUSD. The stablecoin reached a peak market capitalization of more than $1 billion before settling around $760 million in circulating supply. Despite PYUSD’s relatively smaller size compared to some of the other more dominant stablecoins like Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, its influence is big. Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron recently talked about the role of major fintech firms like PayPal and Stripe when it comes to driving mainstream stablecoin adoption, especially at a time when both regulators and enterprises are still navigating and learning about the crypto landscape.
