Only 1 out of 3 Pump.fun Traders Are Profitable: A Deep Dive into PnL Dynamics
Pump.fun, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad platform, has become a popular hotspot for traders looking to capitalize on memecoin movements. Despite its growing traction, profitability among its users tells a different story. We analyzed 771,939 wallets and 535,404 memecoin projects to uncover the reality behind Pump.fun’s traders profitability.
While some traders achieve substantial gains, the data shows that a significant portion are far less fortunate. Let’s dive into the detailed numbers!
Key Findings
- Only one-third of Pump.fun traders are profitable.
- On average, non-pumpfun Solana memecoin traders are 2.5 times more profitable than Pump.fun traders.
- The top 100 Pump.fun traders account for 26% of total profits of all traders on the platform.
- The top 100 most profitable traders earned 115.5 million, while the top 100 least profitable traders lost 56.9 million.
- The most proftable trader on Pump.fun won $5.9 million, while the least profitable trader lost $12.9 million.
Pump.fun Traders Are Less Profitable Than Expected
On average, Pump.fun traders achieve a modest profit of only 3.8%.
The majority of traders see little to no substantial gains, with a detailed breakdown of profit and loss (PnL) revealing that very few traders manage to capture significant profits.
Here’s how the PnL distribution looks for Pump.fun traders:
An overwhelming 66.29% of traders either break even or experience losses of up to 50% of their capital. This means that nearly two-thirds of traders are on the losing side or are barely staying afloat. Only 33.38% of traders manage to be profitable, and even then, most fall into the modest category of up to 5x returns. The extreme gains many associate with crypto memecoin trading—10x or 100x returns—are exceedingly rare, with almost no traders achieving such results.
When we compare Pump.fun traders to non-Pump.fun Solana memecoin traders:
Solana memecoin traders who don’t use Pump.fun enjoy an average profit rate of 8.6%, which is 2.5 times higher than Pump.fun traders’ 3.8%. This suggests that while Pump.fun offers a unique platform for memecoin trading, it may not be the most profitable strategy for the average user compared to traditional trading methods.
Profits Are Concentrated Among a Small Group of Traders
While the majority of traders struggle, profits are concentrated in the hands of a small, elite group.
Only 33.70% of traders are profitable.
The top 100 traders account for a staggering 26% of all profits on the platform, collectively gaining $115.5 million. In stark contrast, the top 100 least profitable wallets lost a total of $56.9 million.
The Top 10 Most and Least Profitable Traders
To further highlight the disparity, here’s a look at the top 10 most and least profitable traders on Pump.fun:
The data shows an enormous gap between the top traders and those who are struggling. The most profitable trader on Pump.fun gained nearly $5.9 million, while the least profitable trader lost a staggering $12.9 million.
Conclusion
While Pump.fun has quickly gained popularity among traders on Solana, the platform’s profitability remains elusive for the majority of its users. With only one out of three traders making a profit and substantial gains being concentrated in the hands of a small elite group, the platform paints a cautionary picture for would-be traders. For those considering joining Pump.fun, it’s vital to understand the risks involved and to approach trading with a strategy that minimizes losses while staying aware of the significant challenges most traders face in turning a profit.
Methodology
To analyze Pump.fun traders’ PnL, we used data from Dune Analytics.
To analyze the average profit of non-pump.fun Solana traders, we first crawled Solana memecoins within the last 3 months from GeckoTerminal. Then, we queried data from Dune to analyze the profitability of these traders.
The PnL are calculated in USD.
Data is collected until September 20.
