Pump.fun is the largest token launchpad on Solana, responsible for hundreds of thousands of token launches since its inception. It allows anyone to create a tradeable Solana token in under a minute with no coding, no upfront liquidity, and minimal cost. If you have been around the Solana ecosystem at all, you have seen Pump.fun tokens everywhere.
This guide walks you through everything you need to know: what Pump.fun actually is, how its bonding curve works, how to create and trade tokens, what graduation means, and how to protect yourself from common scams.
What Is Pump.fun?
Pump.fun is a token creation and trading platform built on Solana. It removes the traditional barriers to launching a token. On a normal DEX, creating a token requires deploying a smart contract, providing liquidity, and managing a liquidity pool. On Pump.fun, you fill out a form, pay a small fee, and your token is live and tradeable within seconds.
The platform uses a bonding curve instead of a traditional liquidity pool. This means there is no need for the creator to provide initial liquidity. The bonding curve acts as an automated market maker with a fixed mathematical formula that determines the token price based on how much SOL has been deposited.
Pump.fun has become the default launchpad for Solana memecoins. While many tokens launched on the platform are short-lived, some have graduated to major DEXs and reached significant market capitalizations. The platform's simplicity is both its greatest strength and its biggest risk factor.
How the Bonding Curve Works
Every Pump.fun token starts on a bonding curve. Understanding this mechanism is essential before you buy or create anything.
The Basics
When a token is created on Pump.fun, the total supply is set at 800 million tokens (the remaining 200 million are reserved for the liquidity pool upon graduation). All 800 million tokens are held by the bonding curve contract. As buyers purchase tokens with SOL, the price increases along a predetermined mathematical curve. As sellers sell tokens back, the price decreases.
There is no order book, no market makers, and no liquidity pool during this phase. The bonding curve itself is the counterparty for every trade.
Price Discovery
The bonding curve makes early buyers pay very little per token. As more SOL flows in, each successive purchase costs more. The first buyer might pay a fraction of a cent per token, while later buyers near the top of the curve pay substantially more. This creates a natural incentive to buy early, but also means early sellers can crash the price significantly.
Graduation Threshold
When approximately 85 SOL (the threshold is SOL-denominated, so the equivalent USD market cap floats with SOL price) has been deposited into the bonding curve, the token "graduates." At graduation:
- The bonding curve closes and no more buys or sells happen through it
- Liquidity is automatically migrated to a DEX (historically Raydium, now PumpSwap for newer tokens)
- A proper liquidity pool is created with the deposited SOL and the reserved 200 million tokens
- The token becomes tradeable on the open market like any other Solana token
We have a detailed breakdown of the graduation process in our bonding curve explained guide. After graduation, creators start earning ongoing fees — our explainer on Pump.fun revenue sharing and how PumpSwap fees work covers exactly how that split works.
How to Create a Token on Pump.fun
Creating a token is straightforward. Here is the step-by-step process.
Step 1: Connect Your Wallet
Go to pump.fun and connect a Solana wallet. Phantom and Solflare are the most commonly used options. Make sure you have SOL in your wallet for the creation fee and any initial buy.
Step 2: Fill in Token Details
Click the "Start a New Coin" button. You will need to provide:
- Token name: The display name of your token
- Ticker symbol: The trading symbol (e.g., BONK, WIF)
- Description: A brief description of your token
- Image: A logo or meme image for your token (this becomes the token's icon everywhere)
You can also add optional links to Twitter, Telegram, and a website.
Step 3: Pay the Creation Fee
The token creation fee on Pump.fun is approximately 0.02 SOL. This covers the on-chain account creation costs. The fee is minimal, which is part of why so many tokens get created daily.
Step 4: Optional Initial Buy
During creation, you have the option to make an initial purchase of your own token. Many creators do this to establish an initial position. Be aware that if you buy a large percentage of the supply at creation, tools like RugCheck will flag this as a risk indicator, and buyers will see your concentrated holding.
Step 5: Token Goes Live
Once the transaction confirms, your token is immediately live and tradeable on Pump.fun. Other users can find it on the Pump.fun homepage, in the "new" feed, or through the token's direct link.
How to Buy Tokens on Pump.fun
Buying tokens on the bonding curve is the most common activity on Pump.fun.
Finding Tokens
Pump.fun's homepage shows a feed of tokens sorted by activity, market cap, or creation time. You can also:
- Browse the "King of the Hill" section for tokens approaching graduation
- Filter by newly created tokens
- Search for specific tokens by name or contract address
- Follow links shared on social media (always verify the contract address)
Executing a Buy
- Click on a token to open its trading page
- Enter the amount of SOL you want to spend
- Set your slippage tolerance (default is usually fine for smaller buys; increase for fast-moving tokens)
- Click "Buy" and confirm the transaction in your wallet
The transaction should confirm within seconds on Solana. Your tokens will appear in your wallet immediately.
Fees
Pump.fun charges a 1% fee on every buy and sell transaction on the bonding curve. This is separate from Solana's network transaction fee (which is negligible at roughly $0.001). So if you buy 1 SOL worth of tokens, 0.01 SOL goes to Pump.fun as a platform fee.
How to Sell Tokens on Pump.fun
Selling works the same way as buying but in reverse. On the token's trading page, switch to the "Sell" tab, enter the amount of tokens (or percentage of your holdings) you want to sell, and confirm the transaction.
The 1% fee applies to sells as well. Keep in mind that selling large amounts relative to the total curve progress will move the price significantly downward.
After Graduation
Once a token graduates, you can no longer sell on Pump.fun's bonding curve. Instead, you trade on the DEX where the token migrated. You can use aggregators like Jupiter or trading platforms like Photon and BullX to buy and sell graduated tokens.
