Pump.fun's livestreaming craze: Gold rush or impending crash?

Creators earn over $19.3 million, $PUMP's market capitalization surpasses $8 billion—What did pump.fun do? The September 2025 resurgence of live streaming not only onboarded a massive number of normies but also allowed the platform to be reborn from its chaotic experiment in 2024. But is this craze a gold mine or a minefield? This article breaks down the upgrade logic, hidden risks, and offers an investment guide for meme enthusiasts. DYOR, don't go all in—crypto is essentially a casino. The trigger for the incident: the "chaotic experiment" of 2024. Pump.fun first introduced live streaming in mid-2024, attempting to seamlessly combine the launch of a meme token with real-time interaction. There was a brief surge in popularity: PumP's concurrent viewership briefly surpassed some channels on Kick and Twitch. However, problems soon became apparent: a lack of rigorous moderation led to the proliferation of harmful content. Following community outrage, the platform urgently removed live streaming in November.

This is not a real "boom", but a "chaotic experiment" - there is no sustainable incentive, creators' income is unstable, audience retention is low, and eventually the platform flopped.

Upgrade in 2025: From "repair" to "closed-loop economy"

pump.fun took a few months to "reborn from the ashes". When live streaming restarts in early 2025, strict auditing and KYC systems will be introduced to prevent the shady content of 2024. This will transform live streaming from a "crypto niche" into a "full entertainment platform." The pain point of "chaos" has been resolved, and creators can now safely engage in IRL without fear of being banned. The most critical upgrade: Project Ascend, launched in early September. This tiered creator fee system, which pays nearly 1% of the token's market capitalization, allows creators to earn consistently without having to sell their tokens. The result? Low-viewership streamers are earning five to six figures per month, 50 times more than Twitch's top 10 streamers. The platform takes a cut and repurchases $PUMP, forming a perfect closed loop: Audience buys coins to support → Creators burn coins to boost the market → Platform grows

Explosive results: Creators earn over $19.3 million USD, $PUMP market capitalization exceeds $8 billion

After the upgrade, traffic skyrocketed: the number of concurrent live broadcasts exceeded Rumble, and even targeted Twitch's market share. Viral effects are emerging: Bagwork was slapped on Twitch, and the coin's market capitalization soared to 40 million; creators' total revenue exceeded $19.3 million, breaking the 10 million mark weekly, and $PUMP's market capitalization exceeded 8 billion.

Behind the craze: Some problems we've seen

Despite the significant contributions of upgrades, the livestream coin model still harbors risks: the core narrative often revolves around the streamer's "highlight moments," which makes the coin's lifecycle highly tied to personal charisma and sustained output. Once the streamer loses momentum or leaves, the community can easily disintegrate—consensus is difficult to build. Coins lacking cultural heritage are easily forgotten. Furthermore, streamers hold excessive influence, often controlling the coin's narrative and fee sharing. This magnifies human risk—greed, controversy, or negative news can instantly cause a coin to collapse. Streamers are not perfect, and emotional decisions can easily lead to a crash. Compared to other memes, the risks are amplified by the livestream, making viewers easily manipulated by the streamer's emotions. Volatility is extreme—a 27% daily gain can just as easily lead to an 80% meltdown. 99.8% of launches ultimately have no value. This isn't a coincidence, but a flaw in the model. For meme enthusiasts, which streamers should pay more attention to?

Give priority to those types that can create FOMO, high interaction, and sustainable money-making. Based on current trends, my idea:

1. IRL adventure/challenge type
   Logic: This type of live broadcast is most likely to have "highlight moments", such as unexpected events or reality shows, which are quickly edited and circulated on X, driving up the price of the currency and the audience. Representative: Bagwork (market cap: $40M USD at time of writing). Interactive Tipping: Creates FOMO through real-time interaction. Unlike traditional meme coins, these are tied to real impact: "Kindness" themes evoke positive emotions in users and are more sustainable than violent or extreme content. Viewers buy tokens to support the streamer, who then burns them, creating a closed loop that fosters loyal fans.
   Representative

Some Future Live Streaming Coin Visions

In the long run, live streaming coins may shift from "individual shows" to an ecosystem. Perhaps

game live streaming

will be one direction: audience voting on the direction of the game, combined with the $PUMP buyback mechanism, forming a "speculation + emotion" dual-wheel drive. Imagine a Grand Theft Auto replay stream where chat dictates the plot—this isn't just entertainment, it also fosters a shared culture and reduces dependency on streamers. Other aspirations: VTuber art shows or AI-assisted charitable interactions could capture 5% of Twitch's market share (3 billion in annual revenue). But this presupposes pump.fun iterates on moderation and locks in fees; otherwise, regulatory action could scupper everything.