Pump.fun's dominance hit by new platform, traffic battle for meme coin Glonk heats up as founder joins in
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Pump.fun's dominance hit by new platform, traffic battle for meme coin Glonk heats up as founder joins in
The entire ecosystem is undergoing profound changes.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: Nancy, PANews
On May 14, the MEME market witnessed a notable showdown as the meme coin Glonk launched simultaneously on two major launchpad platforms—Pump.fun and Letsbonk.fun. While it's not uncommon for the same IP to issue tokens across different platforms, this event stood out because the founders of both platforms personally stepped in to support their respective versions of Glonk.
This battle for traffic quickly ignited market enthusiasm and revealed the intensifying competition among MEME issuance platforms, signaling a profound shift in the ecosystem landscape.
Glonk Sparks Platform War, Founders Step In to Rally Support
In the early hours today, $Glonk—a meme coin rooted in British absurdist humor—suddenly surged in popularity. Its origin lies in Glonk, a fictional green reptilian character from British comedian Ricky Gervais’s illustrated book series *Flanimals*. Known for its contradictory "sad yet funny" persona, Glonk has resonated widely with readers, earning nicknames like the emotionally stable loser. The character has also become associated with subcultural labels such as "lying flat" and nihilism, aligning closely with younger generations’ embrace of apathy, giving it strong viral meme potential.
Moreover, Ricky Gervais, a heavyweight figure in British comedy with tens of millions of fans, brings inherent visibility and a built-in audience to $Glonk, providing natural traction and amplification.
Alon, co-founder of Pump.fun, and Tom, founder of Letsbonk.fun
Glonk initially debuted on Letsbonk.fun and rapidly gained momentum before Pump.fun launched its competing version, escalating tensions between the platforms. The situation reached a peak when both founders took to social media to rally support for their own Glonk variant, turning the rivalry into a high-profile platform clash within the Solana ecosystem. The community has since framed this contest as a banner of resistance against Pump.fun, further fueling Glonk’s buzz and engagement.
In a dramatic twist, Solana-based project Raydium publicly backed Letsbonk.fun. Notably, Raydium was previously allied with Pump.fun, which once contributed nearly half of Raydium’s trading volume and platform revenue. Furthermore, Raydium is developing its own token launch platform, LaunchLab—making its sudden shift in allegiance all the more explosive. In a minor subplot, Pump.Fun’s official X account had briefly blocked the founder of Letsbonk.Fun and a Raydium developer earlier this week, though the blocks have since been lifted.
According to GMGN data, at time of writing, the Letsbonk.fun version of Glonk briefly surpassed an $18 million market cap before settling around $3.7 million, with over $86.3 million in 24-hour trading volume—taking an early lead. Meanwhile, Pump.fun’s $Glonk dropped sharply from a peak of $15 million to about $1.5 million in market cap, with $55.7 million in 24-hour volume. The market has already cast its verdict with real capital.
Indeed, the Glonk showdown has served as an amplifier of community sentiment and a re-negotiation of influence and control.
Pump.fun's Dominance Under Pressure, New Challengers Rise Fast
Launchpad platforms have evolved from simple token deployment tools into battlegrounds for traffic, branding, and user loyalty. Recently, emerging platforms like Letsbonk.fun, Believe, and LaunchLab have surged in popularity, intensifying competition. Beyond eroding Pump.fun’s market share, even recent darlings like Boop.fun have faded quickly, with public interest plummeting.
While Pump.fun remains dominant, its grip is weakening. Looking at graduation rates, Dune data from May 13 shows Pump.fun launched 19,523 tokens that day with a mere 0.7% graduation rate. In contrast, LaunchLab deployed 8,218 tokens at a 1.22% graduation rate, while Letsbonk.fun achieved a striking 1.7% rate across 7,287 tokens—indicating rising user trust and engagement with newer platforms.
In terms of daily token deployment market share, Pump.fun has fallen from its long-held position above 95% to just 57.5% on May 13. Over the same period, Letsbonk.fun captured 17.9%, Believe took 12.9%, and LaunchLab secured 5%, reflecting a rapidly fragmenting landscape.
More notably, recent breakout meme coins such as $LAUNCHCOIN, $GOONC, $DUPE, $Hosico, $USELESS, and $IKUN have primarily emerged from Letsbonk.fun and Believe. Particularly, tokens within the Believe ecosystem have seen broad gains, with its platform token LAUNCHCOIN briefly exceeding $280 million in value. In contrast, Pump.fun’s recent projects have underperformed, lacking new viral hits.
These shifts indicate that the launchpad market is rapidly diversifying, with competitors steadily chipping away at Pump.fun’s lead. Facing mounting pressure, Pump.fun recently introduced a creator revenue-sharing model, returning 50% of trading fees to token creators to boost appeal. However, this move sparked controversy within the community, raising concerns about increased rug-pull risks by developers, while critics note the platform still retains the other 50%, failing to deliver real benefits to users. Competitors are doubling down on incentives—Letsbonk.fun, for instance, announced on May 13 that it would distribute a total of 15,000 USDC in rewards to top-performing projects over the following week, further enhancing its attractiveness.
Overall, the launchpad market is entering a new phase marked by greater diversity and fiercer competition. The race is no longer just about who can launch more tokens, but a comprehensive battle for traffic, brand identity, and user experience—the true ingredients for becoming the next “hit-making machine.”
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