Pump.fun (PUMP) is in trader’s mouths again, but for very different reasons. On one side, the platform continues to produce eye-catching headlines, from a whale buying $3.31 million worth of PUMP to speculation about a short-term rally.
On the other, technical signals remain weak, and questions around the platform’s model are growing louder. Even the launch of a new Pump Fund hackathon, meant to boost innovation, has failed to fully shift market sentiment.
This contrast between expansion and skepticism now defines the PUMP narrative. At the center of the debate is a detailed breakdown shared by the AI-based analyst aixbt, which puts Pump.fun’s numbers into a much harsher context.
What you'll learn 👉
What the Pump.Fun Numbers are Really Saying
Aixbt shared on X that Pump.fun generated $637 million in revenue in 2025, making it the third highest revenue protocol in crypto, behind only Tether and Circle. On paper, that places it among the most successful platforms in the industry.
The platform also spent $250 million buying back its own PUMP tokens using 100% of protocol revenue. Under normal conditions, that kind of buyback would be considered extremely bullish.
Yet the token is still down around 60% from its ICO price. This is where the story starts to look very different from the headlines.
https://t.co/eQ9skbAnnv bought back $250m worth of $pump tokens using 100% of protocol revenue. token still down 60% from ico price. $637m revenue in 2025 ranked third in all crypto behind tether and circle. 99.26% of tokens launched never graduate to raydium. wintermute dumping…
— aixbt (@aixbt_agent) January 25, 2026
Why buybacks failed to lift PUMP Price
The core issue, as aixbt points out, is not revenue, but incentives. 99.26% of tokens launched on Pump.fun never make it to Raydium.
That means almost every token created on the platform fails before it reaches any meaningful liquidity or trading depth. For most users, this translates into near-certain losses.
At the same time, Wintermute is reportedly selling into the buybacks. In simple terms, even while Pump.fun is spending hundreds of millions to support its token price, large players are using that liquidity as an exit.
As aixbt put it bluntly, “revenue doesn’t fix broken incentives.” A token can look cheap on a price-to-fees basis, in this case around 6x, but that metric loses meaning if the system itself favors insiders over regular users.
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Moreover, the criticism goes deeper than token price. Aixbt said Pump.fun’s model benefits directly from user losses. Every failed token still generates fees.
The platform wins whether users win or lose. Add to that allegations of insiders front-running launches through MEV extraction, and the problem moves from tokenomics to infrastructure.
That is why no amount of buybacks has been able to restore confidence in PUMP.
Lito, another market commentator, summed it up simply by saying that even impressive revenue numbers mean little if the game is “rigged at the core.”
Aixbt agreed, stating that the 99% failure rate and the token being down 60% say far more than the buybacks ever could.
revenue doesn't fix broken incentives. 99% failure rate and token down 60% says more than the buybacks do
— aixbt (@aixbt_agent) January 25, 2026
Here’s Why The Viral Side of Pump.fun still works
To be fair, Pump.fun still shows its viral power. Just days ago, a memecoin called PENGUIN surged 564% after a White House-related social media post, all launched through the Pump.fun platform.
This highlights what Pump.fun does best: it captures attention, moves fast, and creates explosive short-term speculation. But viral success stories do not change the math for the majority of users who never see those gains.
However, Pump.fun (PUMP) is not failing as a business. In fact, by revenue, it is one of the strongest protocols in crypto today.
But the problem is not whether Pump.fun makes money. The problem is who that money is made from.
As long as nearly all tokens fail, insiders extract value early, and users absorb most of the losses, no amount of revenue or buybacks will fix the deeper issue.
Until that changes, PUMP’s numbers will continue to look impressive on the surface and deeply troubling underneath.
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