Original Author: Nico
Compiled by | Odaily (@OdailyChina)
Translator | Ethan (@ethanzhang_web3)
I have been deeply immersed in the "trenches" of the cryptocurrency trading field for a long time, and at this moment, many crypto enthusiasts on X are claiming that this field has "died".
The current trading volume of Memecoin is no longer at the level of a few months ago. TRUMP indeed reached a local peak in market share, trading volume, and liquidity attraction. At that time, SOL was priced at $290, BTC broke through the $100,000 mark, and the entire Bull market was in full swing. Subsequently, BTC pulled back to the 74-88K range, and SOL formed a local low point at $95. However, SOL has now strongly rebounded to above $140 (a 46% increase in 15 days), and BTC has returned to the $90,000 mark, making it time to reassess the current situation.
Despite SOL's price decline, generally bearish market sentiment, and fatigue, the data tells a different story. Let's look at the statistics from April to date:
The pump.fun platform has generated approximately $650 million in trading volume so far, with daily trading volume in April fluctuating between $1 million and $2.7 million, averaging between $1.5-2 million.
After the trading volume decline during SOL's high price period and the TRUMP fever, the trading volume in April has significantly recovered. With the launch of PumpSwap and its near-seamless migration mechanism, the trading experience around token migration has been optimized, reflected in the platform's continuous weekly trading volume increase.
To date, 9.7 million tokens have been created, with an average daily issuance of 20-40 thousand in April, and 100-350 tokens "graduating" daily, with a **graduation rate maintained at 0.4-0.8%**.
The decreasing graduation rate over time is related to the decline in users and trading volume, indicating that currently, small groups in the "trenches" are hoarding tokens during new token issuance and then selling to each other. When unable to attract sufficient liquidity to maintain the token price, these groups often choose to withdraw early.
During the peak period from December 2024 to February 2025, 200,000-400,000 users traded Memecoin through pump.fun daily. Since then, user numbers have continuously declined, remaining below 200,000 in the past two months. Currently, daily active wallets are stable around 150,000, with a balanced ratio of new and old users. It's worth noting that most "trench" traders use multi-wallet strategies and regularly change active wallets.
As is well known, Memecoin trading activities are highly concentrated in the top five trading terminals:
- @AxiomExchange
- @tradewithPhoton
- @gmgnai
- @TrojanOnSolana
These platforms collectively contribute over 100,000 daily active users and $100 million in daily trading volume, in line with market observations.
Platform cumulative fees and AUM calculation (SOL at $140):
- Bullx: Cumulative fees $186 million | AUM 215,000 SOL (about $30 million)
- Axiom: Cumulative fees $39 million | AUM estimated similar to Bullx (possibly slightly lower)
- Photon: Cumulative fees $382 million | AUM 539,000 SOL (about $82.6 million)
- GMGN: Cumulative fees $66 million | AUM estimated at least half of Bullx
Estimated total liquidity value of SOL in circulation in the Memecoin field exceeds $200 million. The next article will delve into the total value of all liquidity pools (LP) and tokens.
PumpSwap currently has a daily trading volume of $300-480 million, occupying 9-19% of Solana's DEX trading volume. Notably, since all new pump.fun tokens are issued and traded on PumpSwap, this indicates that a large number of trades still occur on older tokens traded through Raydium/Meteora.
PumpSwap charges a 0.25% transaction fee, of which:
- 0.20% is allocated to liquidity providers (LP)
- 0.05% belongs to the protocol
In its first month, it generated about $25 million in fees (daily average $100-240k), with liquidity providers receiving $20 million and protocol income of $5 million. As PumpSwap's market share continues to expand (currently showing stable growth), these numbers are expected to continue rising, confirming the trend that **traders prefer new tokens over old ones**.
The priority trading mode of new tokens completely aligns with my prediction of Memecoin field development. The recent increased difficulty of survival in the "trenches" is an open secret, with remaining players mostly being "veterans" who have experienced SOL's low prices, trading volume decline, and user loss.
The vitality of the Memecoin field depends on the injection of new liquidity, initially from experienced crypto investors frustrated with mainstream Altcoin losses seeking quick profit opportunities. As the field expands, retail investors also begin to venture into this high-risk, high-reward "deep water".
Compared to DeFi tokens requiring sophisticated operation and deep protocol understanding, Memecoin, with its low barrier to entry, high asymmetric returns (low input, high return potential), and infinite creative space of tokenizing everything (people/content/events/memes), remains the preferred carrier of speculative activities. Solana firmly sits on the "crypto casino" dealer's throne.
If you ask about potential opportunities in other fields? Besides Memecoin, Hyperliquid and its ecosystem, and fartcoin (because "heat" is always rising) might hold opportunities. But for those who think the "trenches" are dead - the mission is not yet complete, everything has just begun.
