Pump.fun rocketed to revenue, ran a blockbuster token sale, and then hit turbulence: rivals took share, the token slid, bots spammed launches, and critics cried “casino.”
Now the team is fighting back with a dynamic creator-fee model, a liquidity foundation for cult communities, and an unapologetic push into live streaming and mobile.
In this episode, co-founder Noah Tweedale lays out how Project Ascend aims to align creators and communities, why buybacks aren’t a long-term business model, what they’re doing about bots and user losses, and how Pump plans to compete not just with crypto apps, but with YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok.
It’s a candid look at whether a crypto product can become a mainstream platform.
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Guest:
Timestamps:
🎬 0:00 Intro
⚡ 2:09 Why the past few months have been so turbulent for Pump
💸 4:47 How the new dynamic fee model works for creators
🔍 9:40 How Pump’s discovery algorithm surfaces tokens
♻️ 10:45 Will Pump’s buybacks become programmatic?
🐶 15:33 Why LetsBonk was able to grab so much market share
⚔️ 18:20 Whether Noah sees Zora as a competitor
🌍 20:09 Why Noah wants to build a world-changing app, not chase small wins
👥 25:02 Whether Pump is prioritizing specific demographics
🔧 27:14 What the team is focused on improving in the app
🔗 30:32 How Pump is building interoperability with the broader crypto ecosystem
🤖 32:21 What the team is doing about bots launching tokens
💔 34:48 Whether they’re worried about so many users losing money
🛡️ 36:15 Why Noah doesn’t see apps like Zora or Believe as real competitors
📱 38:38 How mobile usage differs from desktop on Pump
⚖️ 40:03 How Pump approaches regulation and compliance
🎲 41:02 Why Noah insists Pump is not gambling, it’s trading
🎥 42:49 The strategies to compete with YouTube and Twitch
🌐 48:30 How Pump fits into a world with a widening wealth gap
🎰 53:29 How Noah responds to critics calling Pump a casino
🗺️ 57:56 Why Noah says roadmaps are a fallacy
🛠️ 59:41 Whether Pump will evolve into an “everything app”
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