Pump.fun Revenue Hits $1.98M as KIMCHI Controversy Raises Concerns

Pump.fun generated approximately $1.98 million in protocol revenue over 24 hours on October 24, briefly surpassing decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid. But the revenue milestone comes amid renewed questions about token-launch practices, after a KIMCHI-related promotion coincided with a decline in Pump.fun's daily revenue and active addresses.

Separately, blockchain analytics firm Bitquery found that developers and wallets linked to their launches made at least $579 million in profits across millions of Pump.fun tokens. The findings highlight the gap between the platform's fee-generating activity and the risks faced by traders buying newly launched memecoins.

Pump.fun Records $1.98 Million in Daily Revenue

Pump.fun recorded $1.98 million in protocol revenue over a 24-hour period, according to DefiLlama data reported on October 24. Hyperliquid generated approximately $1.96 million over the same period, putting Pump.fun slightly ahead in the daily comparison.

The lead was limited to the 24-hour window. Hyperliquid remained ahead on a seven-day basis, showing that the ranking can change depending on the period measured.

Pump.fun earns revenue through its memecoin launch and trading ecosystem, where users create tokens and trade them through the platform's infrastructure. Higher trading activity can increase fee generation, but a single day's revenue does not establish a longer-term trend in user demand.

The latest figures follow an earlier recovery in the platform's performance. Related: PUMP rallied as whale activity and revenue growth lifted the token.

KIMCHI Promotion Coincides With Lower Revenue

Pump.fun's revenue and user activity declined during a separate two-day period following promotion linked to crypto influencer Kimchi, according to onchain monitoring account Lookonchain.

The figures showed daily revenue falling approximately 16%, from $1.61 million to $1.35 million. Active addresses also dropped around 11%, from 178,539 to 159,492.

Lookonchain reported that Kimchi removed the Pump.fun reference from his social media profile after the promotion. A wallet associated with Kimchi also reportedly received 1.35 billion PUMP tokens, valued at approximately $6.25 million, in what monitoring accounts described as a possible marketing-related payment.

The timing has drawn attention, but it does not prove the promotion caused the decline in revenue or active addresses. Those figures describe a short period and can change for several reasons, including trading conditions, token launches and broader market sentiment.

The episode has also raised concerns about the rapid price movements seen around some promoted memecoins. A token can attract buyers quickly after social media attention, only for early holders to sell into the surge and leave later buyers exposed to steep losses. The available reporting does not, by itself, establish that every wallet involved acted in coordination or that a particular launch was definitively a rug pull.

Lookonchain's report: https://www.lookonchain.com/feeds/78315

Bitquery Finds $579 Million in Developer Profits

A separate investigation by Bitquery examined approximately 8.2 million Pump.fun token launches between October 2025 and October 7, 2026.

The analysis found that developer-linked wallets bought tokens in the launch block on 21% of the launches examined. These purchases were often grouped into what traders call a bundle, allowing several wallets to buy near the start of trading.

For launches through the end of June, developers and their linked wallets made at least $579 million in profit after fees on the tokens they sold, according to Bitquery. The figure counts profits on sold holdings and does not include every possible cost or wallet connection.

Bitquery also found that developers made their first sale within one minute of launch on 65% of the tokens studied. In 90% of cases, the first sale happened within a day.

The findings do not mean every developer-linked launch was fraudulent. They do show that some insiders can acquire substantial token positions before ordinary buyers have time to react, creating an uneven starting point for traders who discover a coin after it becomes visible.

Bitquery's estimate also covers a different period and metric from Pump.fun's daily revenue. The $579 million represents estimated profits made by developers and linked wallets on token sales, not revenue earned by Pump.fun itself.

Read the full investigation: https://www.bitquery.io/investigations/pump-fun-snipers-bundles

Why Early Token Buying Matters

Pump.fun makes launching a token relatively simple, but the speed of creation can make it difficult for buyers to assess who controls the supply.

When developers or linked wallets acquire large amounts at launch, they may be able to sell into demand from later traders. If many tokens enter the market at once, that selling pressure can overwhelm new buying and cause prices to fall rapidly.

Bitquery's investigation found that on 21% of launches, developer-linked wallets bought in the launch block. It also found that sniper bots appeared among the first buyers on 28% of launches. These categories can overlap, and the figures describe different types of early buying rather than mutually exclusive groups.

For traders, the results reinforce the importance of checking early transactions, wallet concentration and developer selling patterns before buying newly launched tokens. A rapid price increase or a popular social media post does not guarantee that a token has sustainable demand.

Can Pump.fun Sustain Its Revenue?

Pump.fun's $1.98 million daily revenue figure shows that its launchpad and trading ecosystem can still generate substantial fees. However, the recent drop in daily revenue and active addresses highlights how quickly activity can change.

The KIMCHI episode has brought additional scrutiny to the relationship between social media promotion and speculative trading. Bitquery's broader research adds another concern: developers and linked wallets can sometimes secure a significant advantage at launch and realize profits before other traders exit.

The next signal to watch is whether Pump.fun can maintain user activity and revenue without relying on short-lived bursts of speculative demand. Sustained trading, transparent promotion practices and fairer launch conditions will matter more than any single day's revenue ranking.