SecondLane, a private markets trading platform, has listed a 1% equity stake in Pump.fun for $15 million.

This puts Pump.fun’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) at $1.5 billion.

Token Launch and New Trading Features

The stake can be purchased on SecondLane’s web app and through its Telegram channel, where new offerings are regularly announced.

Pump.fun, which has yet to launch a native token, is a Solana-based platform built around the meme coin trading frenzy. It has attracted a significant user base and boasts considerable transaction volume.

According to DefiLlama data, Pump.fun is currently the eighth highest-earning blockchain protocol, just below key players such as Circle and Uniswap. Over the past 30 days, it has generated $86 million in fees, and its cumulative fee revenue exceeds $225 million.

PitchBook shows that it has also raised funds from notable investors, including Alliance DAO, Big Brain Holdings, and 6th Man Ventures.

In October 2024, the Pump.fun team hinted at a future token launch, although they did not provide a specific timeline for the event. They also shared plans for an upgraded trading terminal called “Pump Advance,” which is expected to introduce mini-charts, data on top holders, and social indicators to help traders navigate the increasingly crowded meme coin market.

Incentives Amidst High Token Failure Rate

Despite its popularity, Pump.fun is facing quite a few challenges. Data from Dune Analytics shows that about 98% of meme coins listed on the platform have failed.

To address this, the team behind the project introduced an $80 incentive in August 2024 to encourage token creators to complete the bonding curve and successfully list their tokens on Raydium. The platform has also slashed its token launch fee from $2 to zero.

The platform was also recently forced to press pause on its livestream feature following increased cases of inappropriate content. Some users had resorted to streaming acts of self-harm, threats of self-harm, or other disturbing or violent acts to pump their tokens.

Meme coins, which are Pump.funs bread and butter have also caused mixed reactions within the crypto community. Prominent figures like former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have criticized the growing number of these assets, suggesting that developers should focus on creating more useful blockchain applications.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also called for crypto builders to stop copying and pasting meme coins and instead make them into more exciting blockchain games.