Solana-Based Token Launchpad Pump.fun Registers Slump in New Users, Token Launches, and Fees Collected Following the LIBRA Token Controversy

The LIBRA controversy cooled off the memecoin market on Solana. Javier Milei, President of Argentina, endorsed the memecoin LIBRA on Feb. 14 by saying the token was a way to fund Argentinian ventures.

Pump.fun, a Solana-based token launchpad, has seen a significant decrease in its weekly metrics, including new users, token launches, and fees collected, following the controversy surrounding the LIBRA memecoin.

According to a Dune Analytics dashboard maintained by user evelyn233, the number of new users joining the launchpad fell 16.4% to 601,516 from 719,524 between Feb. 7 and 13. This marks the first time since late November that the daily average of new users in a week fell below 100,000.

The number of tokens deployed weekly has also decreased by 26.3% since the LIBRA incident, falling from 344,607 to 253,955. Despite the decrease, Pump.fun has deployed nearly 8 million tokens in 13 months as of Feb. 21.

The launchpad's fees also declined due to the lower number of tokens deployed. From Feb. 7 to 13, 124,623 SOL were collected in fees, which fell by nearly 32% to 85,196 SOL the following week.

This marks the first time since the last week of December that the daily average fees collected in a week fell below 15,000 SOL.

The LIBRA memecoin controversy and its impact on Pump.fun's metrics

The controversy surrounding the LIBRA memecoin, which was endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, has had a cooling effect on the memecoin market in Solana.

Milei touted the memecoin on Feb. 14, claiming that it could be used to fund ventures in Argentina. The token's price surged rapidly, reaching a market capitalization of $4.5 billion before crashing by 95% over the weekend.

However, a report by Nansen revealed that two wallets managed to profit by over $10 million each by buying the token within seconds of Milei's post on X and selling it at its peak price of $4.55.

This incident has raised questions about insider trading in memecoin markets and sparked discussions about the impact of memecoins on Solana's credibility. These factors may have contributed to Pump.fun's significant decline in numbers over the past week.

According to Artemis' data, this sector has fallen 13.4% since Feb. 14 as of press time, marking the third-largest decline among altcoin sectors in the period.