Speaking to Bankless Podcast host David Hoffman on Tuesday, anonymous co-founder of Pump.fun Alon said that the memecoin market will not fall like as was the case with Luna network and defunct crypto exchange FTX.
Alon told listeners to “not believe” the idea that memecoins are a passing trend, stating that they have existed in various forms for over a decade. He likened early ICOs, DeFi food coins, and even NFTs to memecoins, arguing that all of these speculative assets follow similar market patterns.
“Pump.fun played a significant role in expanding the ecosystem by making participation simpler and ensuring a baseline level of security,” he said.
Yet, he disputed the theory that memecoins are responsible for the crypto market’s struggles and coined it to a lack of compelling use cases in the industry.
Memecoins struggle like the rest of the crypto market, insists Alon
The Solana memecoin launchpad co-founder insists that many projects have failed to grow, even from a position of large valuations. “If you created an L1 or L2 chain years ago and failed to attract users or product-market fit, it’s no surprise people are upset when their investments lose value,” he said.
Using Hyperliquid as an example, Alon discussed how some successful projects can deliver sustainable utility and have strong community backing.
“The demand for altcoins is still there,” he continued, “The problem is that too many teams have been focused on infrastructure rather than building applications that people actually use.”
Do memecoins have a future?
When Hoffman pressed Alon on what he envisions for the future of memecoins, he said that he would like to drive the sector away from the financial nihilism narrative, where trading is seen as purely speculative.
“People aren’t just trading these tokens for financial gain,” he explained. “There’s value in entertainment, in drawing attention to new projects, and in creating communities. I want to see fewer bad actors driving people away and more effort put into fostering a sustainable experience.“
He admitted that Pump.fun will have to set the standards for responsible trading. “Culture is shaped from the top down,” he said, suggesting that better oversight of trading trends could improve the industry’s already tainted reputation.
Alon also said that he believes the longevity of memecoins lies in creating products that users return to daily.
“It doesn’t have to be the same euphoria we saw in November or January, but if we can build something that people engage with consistently, that’s a win.“
Over 8.7 million tokens launched, only a few survive
Hoffman brought up a report from Chinese blockchain journalist Colin Wu, stating that since Pump.fun was launched on January 14, 2024, the platform has seen over 8.7 million tokens created, generating $600 million in revenue. Still, only four tokens have maintained a market cap exceeding $100 million.
Naysayers insist that memecoins trades are only good for short-term gains, akin to gambling wins made in a casino, a chatter that Alon said could feel vindictive, but it was unfair to the industry.
“It’s easy to criticize memecoins when the entire market is down over 50%,” he said. “In November, the cumulative market cap of Pump.fun tokens was around $8 billion. No one was questioning their validity back then.”
He discouraged listeners from making comparisons to the NFT crash, reiterating that despite significant losses, many NFT collections still hold substantial value.
“Pudgy Penguins, for instance, is still worth hundreds of millions. Just because an asset experiences a speculative bubble doesn’t mean it becomes worthless.“
Alon told Hoffman that memecoins have been around for over a decade, and crypto investors have been trading the assets for the length of that period. He finds it difficult to explain why user behavior would suddenly change after so many years.
“Memecoins have been part of crypto for over ten years,” he said. “Why would that suddenly stop now? The market will decide which platforms survive, but memecoins aren’t going away.”
Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now
Earn more PRC tokens by sharing this post. Copy and paste the URL below and share to friends, when they click and visit Parrot Coin website you earn: https://parrotcoin.net0
PRC Comment Policy
Your comments MUST BE constructive with vivid and clear suggestion relating to the post.
Your comments MUST NOT be less than 5 words.
Do NOT in any way copy/duplicate or transmit another members comment and paste to earn. Members who indulge themselves copying and duplicating comments, their earnings would be wiped out totally as a warning and Account deactivated if the user continue the act.
Parrot Coin does not pay for exclamatory comments Such as hahaha, nice one, wow, congrats, lmao, lol, etc are strictly forbidden and disallowed. Kindly adhere to this rule.
Constructive REPLY to comments is allowed