New research reveals that while memecoins attract millions of traders, the real winners are exchanges, launchpads, and trading bots.
Platforms Outpace Traders in Memecoin Boom
A new report from Galaxy Research highlights the paradox of memecoins: they successfully attract fresh users to blockchain ecosystems, yet the profits largely flow to infrastructure providers rather than retail traders.
The study finds that most traders treat memecoins like short-term gambling markets, where median hold times are measured in seconds. In contrast, platforms that enable trading and token creation generate millions in revenue by charging fees.
“Memecoins may not deliver long-term value for most investors, but they’ve created a highly lucrative ecosystem for the platforms that support them,” Galaxy Research noted.
Solana’s Pump.fun Leads the Pack
The report singles out Pump.fun, a memecoin launchpad on Solana that launched in 2024, as a dominant player. Tokens created through Pump.fun now represent $4.8 billion in fully diluted market value, with nearly 13 million tokens launched — a 300% increase in under two years.
This industrial-scale token creation has transformed Solana’s ecosystem. However, the typical median hold time for memecoins has dropped to 100 seconds, compared to 300 seconds a year earlier. Analysts say this indicates that bots and scalpers now dominate trading, often outpacing human participants.
Trading Bots and Exchanges Reap Rewards
Infrastructure providers are the biggest winners. For example, the trading platform Axiom has earned over $200 million in fees with fewer than ten employees, thanks to its role in facilitating memecoin trades.
Similarly, tools like BONKbot and Trojan have monetized demand by charging fees to automatically snipe new token launches.
“Memecoin infrastructure has scaled to millions in monthly revenue, capturing value that retail traders rarely see,” the report added.
Despite criticisms that memecoins lack fundamental utility, Pump.fun’s revenues surged to $13.48 million in mid-August, according to DefiLlama. The platform also raised $500 million in 12 minutes during its July ICO of the PUMP token.
Over the past month alone, Pump.fun generated $120 million in fees, underscoring how the memecoin craze continues to fuel platform profits far more than individual traders.
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves risk and may result in financial loss.