Unchained Podcast Ep. 901 Summary

How Pump.fun Plans to Beat Social Media Giants and Win Beyond Crypto

Host: Laura Shin
Guest: Noah Tweedell, Co-founder of Pump.fun
Date: September 11, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode explores how Pump.fun—the fastest-growing crypto company in recent years—aims to transcend its meme coin casino reputation and take on mainstream social media giants like Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube. Laura Shin sits down with Pump.fun’s cofounder, Noah Tweedell, who discusses the firm's strategy, vision, major product decisions, challenges around regulation and reputation, and the unique culture that underpins the frenetic world of on-chain meme tokens and streaming.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pump.fun’s Wild Ride: Market Share, Growth, and Resilience

• Recent Trajectory: Pump.fun surpassed $840 million in revenue, raised $1.2 billion in its ICO, suffered a brief loss of market share to Let’s Bonk, and rapidly regained dominance, now minting over 80% of Solana coins.
  • “We've had a humongous amount of sort of ups and downs… this is just like the next sort of chaotic thing which is sort of hitting us.” (Noah, 02:09)
• Team Mentality: Despite high volatility and setbacks, internally the company treats crises as routine, often working relentlessly―even taking their first vacation in over a year immediately after the token launch, which coincided with external panic over a lack of communication.
  • “We told ourselves like, no matter what happens after this token launch, let's just take like a week or something off...And I think that's when the whole sort of like chaos went down.” (03:45)

2. Project Ascend and Dynamic Fee Model: Aligning Incentives

• Project Ascend: Aimed at better aligning projects and communities.
• Dynamic Creator Fees: Recently launched on Pump Swap, this system ties creator rewards to market cap—the higher the coin’s cap, the greater the reward, and the lower the fee.
• Competing with Social Media: Inspired by how platforms like YouTube and TikTok incentivize creators, Pump.fun’s model is pitched as 100x better than legacy platforms for earning potential and discoverability.
  • “People who've been streaming for like 12 minutes and have made like $150, right?...This is, I believe, quite literally like a 100x better product than what's out there in the sort of traditional world.” (Noah, 05:28)
  • “Instagram content creator now...even if you get 10,000 followers...you make no money. It's super, super hard to make money.” (08:18)
• Discoverability: The fewer streamers on Pump.fun mean a higher chance for new creators to break out, echoing the early golden days of platforms like Instagram or Tinder.

3. Buybacks: Revenue Distribution and Community Alignment

• $75M in Buybacks: Initially discretionary, now following the lead of industry heavyweights with 100% revenue buybacks to align with crypto community expectations.
  • “The buyback started with 25% and then the decision was made to sort of change that to 100% buybacks.” (Noah, 12:32)
• Skepticism About Business Sense: Noah acknowledges buybacks aren’t a wise long-term business decision, likening it to Amazon paying all their revenue as a dividend.
  • “Arguably it's not a wise business decision...but it's what works in crypto and people want to see their value.” (13:06)

4. Competition—Let’s Bonk, Zora, and Others

• Let’s Bonk & Others: Competitors surge on incentives but fade after rewards dry up. Noah views their repeated comebacks as evidence the best product wins.
  • “Competitors come up, they use massive amount of incentives...then the market share goes directly back down again as soon as the incentives run out.” (15:33)
• Zora: Not seen as a direct competitor, Zora is commended for targeting normies and focusing on user experience, but with lower revenue and a distinct path.
  • “Our vision is to be user-obsessed...it’s risky if you try to build for what the user looks like in five years; you might lose your current ones.” (18:34)
• On Niche: Noah asserts Pump isn't focused on short-term market share but aims to create a product with broad, durable social impact beyond crypto.
  • “I don't see these companies as competitors…who we're really competing against are the largest companies in crypto and beyond.” (36:46)

5. Creators, Traders, and Content Dynamics

• Serving Both Sides: No formal prioritization between creators and traders; Noah compares this to TikTok’s algorithm, serving both, creating “two-sided marketplaces.”
• Fast Iteration: Success is built on rapid, incremental changes (1% better every day), not by seeking grand overnight shifts.

6. Challenges: Discoverability, Bots, & User Safety

• Ongoing Issues:
  • Discoverability: Needs work, especially surfacing quality coins and streams.
  • Bots and Spam: Acknowledge the prevalence of bots (as with all large platforms), so Pump focuses on empowering users with tools/algorithms to spot and steer clear of them, not attempting futile whack-a-mole enforcement.
    • “You'll never win that fight...what you really need to lean into is giving the tools to your users to identify: is this a bot?” (32:44)
• Losses in Meme Coins:
  • ~60% of users lose money, but Noah argues this is the case across almost all of crypto and at least Pump.fun removes founder/VC obfuscation.
    • “With Pump, you know what you're buying into…and it's not lying to you what it is. That's almost beautiful and I really enjoy that.” (35:04)

7. Mobile App and Product Evolution

• Mobile Launch: Activity on mobile is about one-quarter of front-end usage; retention is much higher versus desktop.
• Viral Spread: Mobile-first design is seen as vital for going mainstream and achieving virality through social circles rather than marketing:
  • “If you think about the best products in history...you heard about it because your mom told you, your brother told you...that's what we're optimizing for.” (23:30)
• Streaming Focus: Decided via user interviews (often incentivized), realizing that “hanging out” in real-time is core to digital youth socialization.

8. Regulation, Reputation, and the “Gambling” Critique

• Legal Concerns: Pump works with a sizable legal team to stay ahead of global regulations. Intends Pump to be a skill-based trading platform, not gambling or casino-style content.
  • “Gambling and pornography are the worst industries to be involved in. I want to be clear: Pump is a trading product…Skill-based, not gambling.” (41:33)
• Response to Critics: Noah’s blunt retort to those calling Pump a casino:
  • “Have a higher IQ, I guess. Look what's actually going on, understand it, read into it, and maybe use the product and really understand what's happening.” (53:43)

9. Vision: The Next-Gen “Everything App”

• Aiming Big:
  • Not just a meme coin launcher, but a fusion of streaming, trading, messaging, and personal finance, designed for a new generation and styled to go viral like previous social platforms.
    • “Imagine you’re swapping between TikTok, Robinhood, and you’ve got your bank in one mega application.” (60:18)
  • Platform is intentionally flexible; can become whatever its users need—trading, streaming, messaging, etc.
  • The ultimate rivals are not Zora or Let’s Bonk but the likes of Apple, Meta, and the social and financial platforms that shape mainstream culture.
• Cultural Change: Noah sees Pump as a reaction against algorithmic doom scrolling and a chance to create new financial systems and ownership for the younger generation:
  • “People want to escape...the main reason an iPhone exists is to spend money on it. Instagram: to consume more content, watch more ads. It creates a really skewed world…People want to escape that.” (49:11)
• On Roadmaps: Eschews rigid planning; progress comes from constant, small-scale improvements based on real user feedback and needs.

10. Moderation and Handling Risk

• Past Incidents: Failures around streaming moderation led to systematic processes and 24/7 human moderation. Each new feature launches with a worst-case scenario contingency.
  • “You need that one person in the room: ‘if this goes wrong, this could be something really bad.’” (56:51)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Competition
  “We're a product-first company. Because at the end of the day, the product always wins… If there’s a 1% edge from different little causes, it stacks up. This leads the product to be better in the end, getting the user over in the long term.” (15:33)

• On Streaming vs. Gambling
  “Gambling and pornography are the worst industries to be involved in. Pump is a trading product. It's a skill-based activity, not gambling.” (41:33)

• On the Meme Coin Critique
  “Have a higher IQ… Look what’s actually going on…use the product and really understand what’s happening.” (53:43)

• On Cultural Impact
  “The youth wants to create their own financial system and escape the Matrix...every generation creates a new financial system.” (49:11)

• On Roadmaps & Long-term Planning
  “I would throw this roadmap fallacy away...there’s no ten-step plan to become the world’s biggest company. It’s constant iteration and rapid improvement.” (58:15)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:09] — Surviving turbulence, handling pressure, and vacation misperceptions
• [05:28] — Project Ascend and the dynamic fee model for creators
• [12:32] — Buybacks: rationale, community expectation, and sustainability
• [15:33] — Competition: Let’s Bonk, Zora, and “product always wins”
• [23:30] — User obsession, building viral products, mobile strategy
• [32:44] — Bots, user tooling, and discoverability
• [41:33] — Streaming, gambling critique, focus on skill-based activity
• [49:11] — Pump’s cultural thesis, financial youth, and societal critique
• [53:43] — Blunt response to meme coin casino critics
• [56:51] — Lessons from moderation failures and managing risk
• [58:15] — No roadmaps, just constant iteration
• [60:18] — Vision for an “everything app” (streaming, trading, finance)

Final Takeaways

Pump.fun, under Noah Tweedell's leadership, aspires to be much more than a crypto meme coin casino. With ambitions to rival mainstream social media, radical product incentives for creators, a focus on user experience and quick feature iteration, and a determination to escape the downsides of legacy platforms, Pump.fun seeks to build a flexible, viral, and financially rewarding community platform—driven by and for the next generation of internet culture.

For More:
Noah suggests following them on Twitter for updates and community interaction.