pump.fun guide: fees, referral code and review

Key facts

What is pump.fun?

pump.fun is where many Solana memecoins are born. Anyone can create a coin, which trades on a bonding curve until it graduates to a PumpSwap pool. The platform has a web app, a terminal and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

What should you watch out for on pump.fun?

Because coins launch with no vetting, most new pump.fun coins are extremely risky: liquidity is thin, creators can sell, and many go to zero within hours.

More about the referral programme

pump.fun also runs Callout Rewards: users post 'callouts' on tokens and may receive discretionary USDC from a reward pool, paid about daily. The methodology is confidential and was changed on 10 October 2026 to weigh followers' realised profits and pay less for low-cap callouts. It is separate from the invite code.

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Comparisons

How a pump.fun coin's life works

A coin is created for free and starts trading on a bonding curve, where price rises as people buy. If it reaches graduation, it migrates to a PumpSwap pool; the migration costs 0.015 SOL, paid by whoever triggers it (normally pump.fun). After graduation, fees on the canonical PumpSwap pool depend on market cap, from 1.25% for small caps down to 0.30% for the largest.

Creator fees and why they matter to buyers

On every trade, part of the fee (0.30% on the bonding curve) goes to the coin's creator. That gives creators an income from volume regardless of price, which is worth remembering when a creator hypes their own coin.

Callout Rewards in plain words

pump.fun users can post callouts on coins and may receive USDC from a reward pool, roughly daily. pump.fun keeps the method confidential, can change it at any time and says rewards may be zero; since 10 October 2026 it weighs followers' realised profits and pays less for low-cap callouts. It is not a salary and not linked to the invite code.

What a round trip costs on pump.fun

Platform fee only, at 1.25% per side on the bonding curve (graduated coins on PumpSwap pay 1.25% down to 0.30% by market cap). Network, priority and pool fees and price impact come on top.

How trade size changes what you really pay

Platform fees are only part of the cost. On every buy and sell you also pay network fees, sometimes a priority tip, the liquidity pool's own fee and price impact. Price impact grows as your order gets bigger relative to the pool's liquidity, which is why the same token can be cheap to buy for $50 and expensive for $5,000. Before any trade, look at the expected output on the confirm screen, not just the headline fee.

Plan your exit before you enter

Memecoins can drop 50% in minutes and some become impossible to sell. Write down three numbers before buying: the most you will lose (then sell), the price at which you take back your stake, and a time limit after which you exit if nothing happens. Rules decided in advance beat decisions made while the chart is moving.

Account security checklist

Use a unique password and app-based two-factor authentication on the email or Apple/Google account you log in with. Never share login codes or private keys with anyone, including people claiming to be support. Bookmark the official domain and use it instead of search ads or links from DMs. Keep only trading money in a hot wallet.

Records and taxes

Selling, swapping and cashing out can all be taxable depending on where you live. Export or screenshot your history regularly; on-chain explorers show every transaction from your wallet address if you need to rebuild records.

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PumpSwap fees by market cap

Graduated coins trade on a canonical PumpSwap pool where the total fee depends on the coin's market cap: 1.25% below 420 SOL, falling in steps to 0.30% above 98,240 SOL, according to pump.fun's fees page. Non-canonical PumpSwap pools charge a flat 0.30%.

Using pump.fun safely as a buyer

Assume most new coins will fail. Never buy a coin because its creator or a callout says it is going up. Check holder distribution and whether the creator still holds a large share. Size tiny on the bonding curve, where 1.25% per side means 2.5% per round trip before price impact.

pump.fun vs trading pump.fun coins elsewhere

Apps and terminals such as fomo, GMGN, Axiom and Photon can trade coins launched on pump.fun. Their own platform fee comes on top of pump.fun's protocol fees when you trade on the bonding curve.

Memecoin glossary: the terms that cost beginners money

Liquidity: the funds in the pool you trade against; low liquidity means your own trade moves the price. Price impact: how much your order moves the price; shown as the difference between the quoted and the received amount. Slippage tolerance: the maximum price change you accept between submitting and confirming; set too high, it invites worse fills, set too low, trades fail. Market cap: price times circulating supply; a small market cap can move violently on small orders. Bonding curve: a pricing formula used by launchpads such as pump.fun where price rises with each buy until the coin graduates to a normal pool. Graduation / migration: when a launchpad coin moves to a regular liquidity pool. Rug pull: when insiders remove liquidity or dump supply, leaving holders unable to sell at any reasonable price. Honeypot: a token whose contract lets you buy but blocks or heavily taxes selling. MEV / front-running: bots that see your pending trade and trade around it to profit at your expense. Priority fee: an optional tip to get a transaction included faster. Contract address (CA): the unique on-chain identifier of a token; names and tickers can be copied, the address cannot.

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Frequently asked questions