Pump.fun, a Solana-based memecoin launchpad, has made the decision to pause its live stream feature indefinitely in response to inappropriate activity on the platform, as stated in a Nov. 25 statement.
The Pump.fun team has been actively moderating harmful content, increased the size of its human moderators, and is investing in automated moderation systems. Despite these efforts, the platform has decided to take a break from live streaming. The platform added:
“As the most popular crypto app with user-generated content, we’re navigating challenges that many other social platforms have faced during their growth phases and are taking similar steps to address the core issues.”
The statement mentioned that the live streaming feature will be reinstated once the moderation infrastructure is equipped to handle increased activity levels.
Launched in May, the live video feed function was active for less than six months.
Community Backlash
Pump.fun allows users to create memecoins without technical knowledge and creators utilize live streaming to attract potential investors. However, the decision to pause the live video feed feature comes after it led to extreme cases.
Creators started presenting challenges to boost token prices, some even distributing “not safe for work” material. One creator initiated a challenge where he vowed to stay in a toilet until the token price reached $50 million. Another user went as far as shooting a gun every time the price increased.
Additionally, the safety program manager for Pudgy Penguins, known as Beau, reported that a creator was threatening to end his life if the token price did not reach a specific market cap. This led Beau to urge Pump.fun’s team to disable the live stream feature.
Memecoin Popularity
Pump.fun gained popularity within Solana’s (SOL) ecosystem this year, with over 3.8 million tokens deployed to date.
According to a Dune Analytics dashboard created by venture capital fund Hashed, the token issuance activity generated over 1.4 million SOL in fees on the platform.
Since August, Pump.fun-related transactions have dominated trading activity on decentralized exchanges (DEX). In November, Pump.fun tokens accounted for 62.4% of Solana DEX transactions, marking the highest monthly activity related to the memecoin launchpad.
Despite the platform’s success, it has faced criticism for being akin to a casino due to the low percentage of successful token launches. According to a Dune Analytics dashboard by user evelyn233, only 1.42% of the 3.8 million tokens created on Pump.fun reached the necessary market cap for a DEX launch.
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