The memecoin craze on Pump.fun appears to be running out of steam

The memecoin craze on Pump.fun appears to be running out of steam, with the platform's token survival rate plummeting below 1% for a fourth consecutive week.

The memecoin craze on Pump.fun seems to be fizzling out, with the platform’s token survival rate dropping below 1% for a fourth consecutive week.

According to data from Dune Analytics, Pump.fun’s so-called ‘graduation rate’ – the percentage of tokens that successfully transition from the incubation phase to full tradability on a Solana decentralized exchange (DEX) – has dropped to record lows.

To graduate, a token must meet specific liquidity and trading benchmarks, which vary depending on the total value locked (TVL) in the Solana ecosystem. Since February 17, this rate has remained below 1%, marking the first time in the platform’s history that its success rate has been this bleak over an extended period.

Historically, Pump.fun’s graduation rate was never particularly high. It peaked at just 1.67% in November 11, 2024. However, at the time, the sheer volume of tokens launched meant thousands still made it to market. During that week alone, 323,000 tokens were created, with approximately 5,400 successfully graduating into the Solana DeFi ecosystem.

[TECH] REPORT | MemeCoin Creation Platform, https://t.co/fMWoaORGuI, Collected $525,000 in Average Daily Fees, Says Solana Q2 2024 Report: Solanas DeFi TVL fell by 9% QoQ to $4.5 billion, ranking it fourth among networks i.. https://t.co/OyX31nhtpO via @BitcoinKE

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Declining Interest and Market Challenges

However, with a decline in token creation on both Pump.fun and Solana, weekly token graduations have averaged just 1,500 in the past month.

This sharp drop reflects the weakening enthusiasm for memecoins, which are increasingly viewed as speculative lottery tickets or opportunistic cash grabs by their creators. Even politically-affiliated tokens have been hit hard. A memecoin associated with former U.S. President Donald Trump has lost 84% of its value since its January 19 peak, according to data from CoinGecko.

The downturn in the memecoin market continues despite broader macroeconomic factors that could have provided support. In February, Matrixport analysts linked Bitcoin’s struggles to a stronger U.S. dollar, which had tightened liquidity.

Since late February, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has weakened, dropping from a high of 107.61 to 103.95 in mid-March. However, despite this shift, memecoins – one of the strongest narratives of the bull market – show little sign of recovery.

“The U.S. dollar has recently weakened, leading to a rebound in liquidity indicators and some marginal improvements in inflation data. Yet, memecoins are still struggling heavily, with no sign of recovery yet,” Matrixport noted in a recent report.