How to Snipe Tokens on Pump.fun: A Beginner's Guide (2026)

If you've spent any time in Solana's memecoin world, you've probably seen tokens go from zero to 50x in minutes — and wondered how people keep getting in so early. The answer, more often than not, is sniping.

Sniping means buying a token as soon as it launches (or as close to launch as possible) to take advantage of early price action on the bonding curve. It's one of the most popular strategies on Pump.fun, and while it sounds simple, there's more to it than just being fast.

This guide breaks it all down for beginners — no prior experience needed.

What Is Pump.fun and How Does It Work?

Pump.fun is a token launchpad on Solana where anyone can create a memecoin in under a minute. No coding required. You pick a name, upload an image, pay a small fee in SOL, and your token goes live.

Every new token starts on a bonding curve — a pricing model where the price automatically increases as more people buy. Think of it like a line at a store: the earlier you are, the cheaper your ticket.

Here's the lifecycle of a Pump.fun token:

Token launches on the bonding curve — price starts very low
Buyers push the price up as they purchase tokens along the curve
At ~$69K market cap, the token "graduates" and migrates to PumpSwap
On PumpSwap, it trades like any normal token on a DEX

The key insight: roughly only 1% of tokens ever graduate. Most die within minutes or hours. That's the risk you're taking.

What Is PumpSwap?

In March 2025, Pump.fun launched its own DEX called PumpSwap, replacing the old migration to Raydium. This was a big deal because:

Migration is now instant and free (used to cost 6 SOL and had delays)
Liquidity stays within the Pump.fun ecosystem
Trading fees are just 0.25% on PumpSwap (down from 1% on the bonding curve)
Token creators earn a share of trading fees — aligning incentives

When a token graduates, it automatically gets a liquidity pool on PumpSwap. No manual steps needed.

Why Sniping Matters

The biggest gains on Pump.fun happen in the first few seconds to minutes after launch. Here's why:

Bonding curve pricing means the earliest buyers get the lowest prices — sometimes 10-100x cheaper than buyers arriving just minutes later
Migration creates a surge — when a token hits PumpSwap, attention spikes and price often pumps
Speed is the edge — if you buy at the bottom of the curve and the token graduates, you're sitting on massive unrealized gains before most people even notice the token exists

The flip side: most tokens never graduate. You'll lose money on the majority of snipes. The strategy only works when your winners are big enough to cover your losses.

How to Snipe on Pump.fun: Step by Step

Step 1: Set Up Your Wallet

You need a Solana wallet with SOL in it. Phantom or Solflare are the most popular choices. Fund it with enough SOL for multiple small trades — never put all your funds into one snipe.

Step 2: Choose Your Sniping Tool

You can snipe manually on Pump.fun's website, but most successful snipers use a trading bot for speed. Popular options include:

Tool	Type	Key Sniping Feature
BullX NEO	Web + Telegram	Pump Vision with chart previews, smart sniper detection
Trojan Bot	Telegram	Fast execution, popular among Solana traders
Axiom	Web app	Clean interface, built-in token analysis
Photon	Web app	Speed-focused, popular for sniping
Banana Gun	Telegram + Web	Trenches feed, multi-wallet sniping

Each of these tools connects to the Solana blockchain and can execute buy orders faster than you could manually. We review all of them on MadeOnSol.com.

Step 3: Find Tokens to Snipe

There are two main approaches:

Approach A: Watch the feed Most trading bots have a live feed of new Pump.fun launches. BullX NEO calls this "Pump Vision" — it shows new tokens appearing in real-time with chart previews and basic safety info. You pick ones that look promising and buy quickly.

Approach B: Follow the developer If you know a developer is about to launch (from a Telegram group or announcement), you can pre-load their wallet address into a sniping bot. The bot will automatically buy the moment their token goes live.

Step 4: Evaluate Before You Buy

Even in fast-moving markets, take 5 seconds to check:

Social links — Does the token have a Twitter/Telegram? No socials = higher rug risk
Top holders — Are the top 10 wallets holding more than 30% of supply? That's a red flag
Developer wallet — Has this wallet launched tokens before? What happened to them?
Bonding curve progress — How far along is it? Buying at 80% bonded is very different from buying at 5%

Step 5: Set Your Exit Strategy BEFORE You Buy

This is where most beginners fail. Before you enter any trade, decide:

Take profit target — At what multiple will you sell? (e.g., 2x, 5x, 10x)
Stop loss — How much are you willing to lose? (e.g., sell if it drops 50%)
Partial sells — Consider selling a portion at each milestone instead of waiting for "the top"

Most trading bots let you set automatic take-profit and stop-loss orders. Use them.

Safety Tips for Beginners

Start small. Use tiny amounts of SOL per snipe (0.01-0.05 SOL) until you understand the rhythm. You will lose money learning — keep the tuition fees low.

Never invest more than you can afford to lose. This is not a figure of speech. Most Pump.fun tokens go to zero. Treat every snipe as money you might never see again.

Watch out for rug pulls. A rug pull is when the creator dumps their tokens on buyers and disappears. Warning signs include: concentrated token holdings, no social links, copy-pasted token names, and newly created developer wallets.

Use built-in security features. Tools like BullX NEO and Axiom have real-time security audits that flag suspicious contracts. Pay attention to these warnings.

Don't chase. If a token has already pumped 10x and you missed it, let it go. FOMO trades are how most people lose money. There will always be another launch.

Secure your wallet. Download your private keys immediately after creating a trading bot wallet. Store them somewhere safe offline. If you lose access to your keys, you lose your funds permanently.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

Going all-in on one token — Spread your risk across multiple small snipes
No exit strategy — Watching a 10x turn into a -90% because you didn't set a sell target
Ignoring red flags — Buying tokens with no socials, suspicious holders, or known scam patterns
Using too much slippage — High slippage means you pay more than expected. Start with 10-15% and adjust
Not accounting for fees — Trading fees, priority fees, and gas add up fast on high-frequency trades
Sniping every single token — Quality over quantity. Be selective or you'll bleed SOL slowly

The Honest Truth About Sniping

Sniping on Pump.fun can be profitable, but the success rate is brutal. Even experienced snipers expect to lose money on 70-80% of their trades. The strategy works because the winners (10x, 50x, or more) outweigh the many small losses.

If you're a beginner, focus on learning first and making money second. Paper trade (watch without buying) for a few days. Study which tokens graduate and which don't. Build your instincts before you risk real money.

And remember: nobody posts their losses on Twitter. The 100x screenshots you see are survivorship bias. For every one of those, there are hundreds of people who lost money on the same platform.

Tools Mentioned in This Guide

All of these tools are reviewed with honest pros, cons, and health monitoring on MadeOnSol:

BullX NEO — Web + Telegram trading bot with Pump Vision
Trojan Bot — Popular Telegram trading bot
Axiom — Web-based trading platform
Photon — Speed-focused trading tool
Phantom Wallet — Most popular Solana wallet
Solflare Wallet — Feature-rich Solana wallet

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only. Trading memecoins is extremely risky, and you should never invest money you can't afford to lose. MadeOnSol does not provide financial advice. Always do your own research.