Could pump.fun Kill Memecoins?

1️⃣ Memecoin Mayhem

Pump.fun, a wildly popular memecoin launcher for Solana's degens, has found plenty of new critics this week who fear its newly updated token launching mechanics have taken all of the fun out of betting on memecoins.

In its young lifespan, Pump has helped users create nearly two million unique memecoins, and while 99.99% of these have failed to gain any meaningful value, the activity has made the Pump team rich. They've hauled in $100M in fee revenue since the platform took off in March.

Their success has been compounding. The platform recently removed the $2 fee to create a memecoin, passing the fee onto the first buyer of the coin (which is more often than not a bot). This shift has led to an explosion in new coins hitting the platform, rampant speculation, and record fees for Pump, which nabbed $5.3 million in fees in a single 24-hour period this week.

All of that action has led to plenty of grumblings on Crypto Twitter that the only one winning from the new dynamic is Pump. Can the platform sustain the action, or are traders going to migrate elsewhere?

2️⃣ Restaking Makes Strides

It’s been a big week for restaking, with updates from EigenLayer and Symbiotic, plus new non-ETH LRTs launching.

• EigenLayer: On Wednesday, the leading restaking protocol announced support for permissionless token restaking, allowing potentially any ERC-20 token to be used in securing AVSs (Actively Validated Services), essentially knocking out one of Symbiotic’s main competitive advantages.
• Symbiotic: The Lido-aligned competitor launched its devnet this week and intends to go live on mainnet this quarter.
• Bitcoin and Solana LRTs: Etherfi and Swell both announced the launch of Bitcoin LRTs, which will collect yield from Symbiotic, Karak, and EigenLayer. Further, Renzo announced they are teaming up with Jito, who recently announced their own restaking platform, to launch LRT ezSOL on Solana.

3️⃣ Bad Price Action Despite Good Data

Crypto bulls were puzzled this week as Bitcoin and Ethereum nose-dived despite positive inflation data that sent TradFi markets soaring.

This unexpected drop follows a summer filled with fearful selloffs, leaving many to wonder if there's a hidden force at play — potentially the Mt. Gox redistribution or the U.S. Government’s transfer of seized Bitcoin to exchanges. With institutional adoption of Bitcoin growing and a Federal Reserve easing cycle near guaranteed for September, the lack of positive price movement is puzzling, continuing to defy expectations of what is bullish.

4️⃣ Turning Point For Crypto Payments?

Apple’s recent announcement could be a watershed moment for crypto payments. The tech giant revealed that it will open up its NFC payment chip to third-party developers, a move that could bring crypto payments into the mainstream faster than ever before. This policy shift allows developers to integrate tap-to-pay features directly into mobile wallet apps, potentially making stablecoin transactions as easy as swiping a credit card. This development builds on the momentum of Coinbase’s smart wallets and token transfer links to further bulk out a suite of tools to drive crypto payments mainstream.

5️⃣ Wrapped Bitcoin Drama

WBTC stirred controversy this week as issuer BitGo announced a joint venture with BiT Global, transferring majority control of WBTC's multi-signature keys to Justin Sun’s group. This move set off alarms across the space, with many fearing the worst for the $9B in assets under WBTC’s management. The backlash was swift, with MakerDAO halting WBTC borrows. Meanwhile, Coinbase seized the opportunity to tease its alternative, cbBTC, which looks to be “coming soon.”