Pump.Fun Token Launch: Sunshine or Storm?

Key Takeaways:

• Pump.Fun’s $PUMP ICO is expected on July 12, with 33% of tokens allocated to the launch.
• An airdrop is planned, but no official date has been announced yet.
• LetsBonk trading volume surpassed Pump.Fun this week, driven by the success of Useless Coin (USELESS).

Rumors of a Pump.Fun token launch have been swirling since the project first exploded onto the scene. With so many meme coins born there, a native token seems logical – but is it really that simple?

The long-awaited Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for $PUMP is expected to kick off on July 12. According to Pump.Fun, 33% of tokens are allocated for the ICO, the largest share, while 20% will go to the team. An airdrop is also planned, but no exact date has been announced yet.

‘Expect The Next Week To Be Wild’

Matas Čepulis, Founder & CEO of LuvKaizen, told Cryptonews that Pump.Fun’s strategy could dominate headlines across crypto:

And the playbook is clear. Get the biggest FOMO rush possible by fast-tracking listings on every major CEX, pushed by their KOL networks. It’s the most expensive route, but it works when you want chaos.

There’s no denying the launch is highly anticipated, regardless of whether traders view it with optimism or caution. Major centralized exchanges (CEXs) are already paying attention. Kraken has announced a collaboration with Pump.Fun, and other platforms like Bybit and KuCoin are on it.

Čepulis added that if Pump.Fun succeeds, it could spark wider market gains beyond meme coins, potentially lifting Bitcoin (BTC) itself:

If they pull it off and if the market goes up and BTC hits ATH daily. This might just be the closest thing we’ve seen to the mania of 2017 or 2020–2021.

At the moment, BTC price continues to climb and recently hit a new all-time high (ATH). Market conditions remain favorable, with some analysts expecting an altcoin season driven by a strong Bitcoin alongside falling dominance – considered the ideal scenario.

Why Pump.Fun Token Launch Now?

Rumors of a Pump.Fun token have been around for months, intensifying recently before the project postponed the release. This may have been linked to the temporary arrest and X (Twitter) account suspension of the platform’s founders, though these issues were later resolved.

Pump.Fun remains the largest launchpad for meme coins, even though its revenue has fallen sharply from peak levels and around 90% of tokens launched there end up failing. But that’s the nature of meme coin markets. A new competitor, LetsBonk, has emerged this spring and recently grabbed the spotlight.

According to Dune data, LetsBonk’s trading volume reached $131 million this week, compared to Pump.Fun’s $50 million – a 162% lead. It may be too early to declare a shift in power, but the numbers speak for themselves.

Much of LetsBonk’s hype comes from Useless Coin (USELESS), which reached nearly a $300 million market cap within a month, earning comparisons to Fartcoin (FARTCOIN).

Other LetsBonk meme coins have also hit new ATHs, including Hosico Cat (HOSICO), Ikun (IKUN), and Kori (KORI).

Could Pump.Fun’s Token Launch Backfire?

While some traders remain bullish on the Pump.Fun token, others warn it could mark the end of the current meme coin cycle.

Even before launch, the mere expectation of $PUMP signals a shift towards monetization and profits for the team. For the community, it hints that Pump.Fun is becoming more “corporate” and less creator-focused. Combined with falling token launches and user interest, this could cool the meme coin market further.

Or, it might simply push traders towards alternatives like LetsBonk.

For now, all eyes are on the airdrop and how it’s handled. An unfair distribution, like many recent crypto airdrops, could damage Pump.Fun’s reputation. Čepulis concluded that the situation feels unclear, warning traders not to trust every leak they see:

There’s no denying that something shady is brewing around the Pump.Fun token launch. KOLs are already flooding X with ‘insider’ airdrop leaks that smell more like fiction than fact.

Pump.Fun token launch could ignite a fresh wave of meme coin mania, or accelerate its own decline. Whether this is sunshine or a coming storm for the platform and wider market remains to be seen.

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