On May 14, 2025, the two major Launchpad platforms in the Solana ecosystem—Pump.fun and Letsbonk.fun—engaged in fierce competition over the simultaneous launch of the MEME coin $Glonk. This MEME craze, sparked by the "lying flat nihilism" character IP of British comedian Ricky Gervais, not only ignited community enthusiasm but also brought the competition between the two platforms to the forefront, exposing the intense struggle for discourse power in the Solana ecosystem's Launchpad market. The dual-version launch of $Glonk, accompanied by the founder personally promoting it, Raydium's support shift, community discussions, and market voting, has become a magnifier of traffic and capital, signaling a profound differentiation in the Launchpad landscape.
$Glonk Dual Platform Launch: Traffic Carnival and Platform Game
$Glonk originates from Ricky Gervais's comedic character, quickly gaining popularity on social media due to its unique appeal that resonates with the younger generation's "lying flat" and "nihilism" culture. On May 13, Letsbonk.fun was the first to launch $Glonk, leveraging the platform's keen ability to capture trends and community-driven dissemination mechanisms, attracting significant attention in a short time, with a peak market cap exceeding $18 million and a 24-hour trading volume reaching $86 million. Pump.fun followed suit, launching its own version of $Glonk the next day, attempting to share in the traffic dividends. However, the market performance of the Pump.fun version could not be sustained, with its market cap quickly dropping from a high of $15 million to $1.5 million, and trading volume only reaching $55 million, clearly lagging behind its competitor.
The tension in this showdown stems not only from market data. The founder of Letsbonk.fun publicly promoted their version on the X platform, emphasizing the platform's community stickiness and fairness mechanism; the founder of Pump.fun countered, claiming that their platform's technical stability and user base are unmatched. More dramatically, the important DEX Raydium in the Solana ecosystem publicly supported the Letsbonk.fun version, sparking community discussions about Pump.fun's "loss of power." On the X platform, investors and MEME enthusiasts split into two factions, engaging in heated debates over "Bonk vs Pump," with some jokingly comparing the "$Glonk battle to WWE in the crypto world."
Launchpad Market Reshuffle: Pump.fun's Dominance Shaken
For a long time, Pump.fun has dominated over 95% of the Solana Launchpad market share due to its low-threshold token issuance mechanism and strong user base. However, data from May 13, 2025, showed its market share plummeting to 57.5%, while Letsbonk.fun rapidly climbed to 17.9%, with Believe and LaunchLab following closely at 12.9% and 5%, respectively. This change is not coincidental. Recently, several popular MEME coins, such as $DUPE, $IKUN, and $GOONC, have emerged from new platforms, particularly Letsbonk.fun, which has successfully attracted a large number of creators and speculators through its precise grasp of trending narratives and flexible incentive mechanisms.
In response to competitive pressure, Pump.fun quickly adjusted its strategy, announcing on May 14 the launch of a creator income rebate mechanism, attempting to strengthen its ecological stickiness by increasing creator earnings. However, this move sparked community skepticism, with many users believing the rebate mechanism favored platform interests and did not directly benefit ordinary investors. In contrast, Letsbonk.fun introduced a more aggressive incentive plan, promising to distribute $15,000 USDC rewards to quality MEME projects within a week while optimizing the token issuance process to enhance hit efficiency. This not only attracted a large number of new projects but also further drew speculative funds and community supporters.
The Logic Behind the MEME Coin Craze: Traffic, Community, and Narrative
In 2024, the total market capitalization of MEME coins surpassed $120 billion, accounting for 3.5% of the crypto market, with an annual increase of 424%. The Solana ecosystem stands out, becoming a "launch center" for MEME coins due to its low transaction costs and efficient on-chain infrastructure. Pump.fun and Letsbonk.fun have greatly unleashed community creativity and speculative enthusiasm by simplifying the token issuance process and lowering participation thresholds. The success of $Glonk is largely attributed to its resonance with the current youth's "anti-mainstream" culture and the viral spread on social media.
However, the high volatility and speculative nature of MEME coins also bring risks. The drastic price fluctuations of tokens on the Pump.fun platform have caused many investors to incur losses while chasing highs; while Letsbonk.fun is temporarily leading, whether its aggressive incentive strategy can continue to attract quality projects remains to be seen. Users on X have candidly stated, "$Glonk is a traffic miracle, but 99% of MEME coins ultimately go to zero; players need to keep their eyes open."
Future Outlook: The Launchpad Battle Enters a New Stage
The Launchpad war triggered by $Glonk, on the surface, is a competition for MEME coin traffic, but it actually reflects a comprehensive contest among creators, traffic, and hit efficiency within the Solana ecosystem. Pump.fun's dominant position is being shaken, but its large user base and technological accumulation still hold advantages; new forces like Letsbonk.fun are accelerating their rise with flexible strategies and community support. In the future, competition among Launchpad platforms will focus more on the following points: first, the sustainability of creator incentives; second, the incubation efficiency of hit projects; and third, the balance of user trust and community stickiness.
For investors, the duel of the $Glonk dual versions provides a window to observe changes in the Launchpad landscape. In the short term, Letsbonk.fun's $Glonk may continue to lead due to community enthusiasm and platform support, but Pump.fun's counterattack potential should not be underestimated. More importantly, this battle reminds the market that while the prosperity of MEME coins is exciting, high risks coexist with high returns, making rational participation crucial.
This article represents the author's personal views and does not reflect the position and views of this platform. This article is for information sharing only and does not constitute any investment advice to anyone.
Join our community to discuss this event
Official Telegram community: t.me/aicoincn
Chat room: Wealth Group
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
