Author: Nancy, PANews

On May 14, a captivating showdown unfolded in the MEME market, with a MEME coin named Glonk launching simultaneously on two major Launchpad platforms, Pump.fun and Letsbonk.fun. While the phenomenon of issuing tokens from the same IP on different platforms is not new, what makes this event special is that the founders of both platforms personally stepped in to promote their respective versions of Glonk.

This battle for traffic not only quickly ignited market enthusiasm but also revealed the increasingly fierce competition among MEME issuance platforms, indicating a profound shift in the entire ecological landscape.

Glonk Stirs Up Platform Wars, Founders Step In to Support

In the early hours of today, a MEME coin $Glonk, originating from British absurdist humor culture, suddenly sparked a market frenzy. Its prototype is the fictional character Glonk from the illustrated book series "Flanimals" created by the famous British comedian Ricky Gervais. Glonk, a green reptile, has won the resonance of many readers with its "sad yet funny" contradictory nature, humorously dubbed as an emotionally stable loser. Glonk has also been assigned subcultural labels of "lying flat" and "nihilism," resonating with the current young generation's laid-back attitude, giving it strong meme propagation potential.

At the same time, Ricky Gervais, as a heavyweight figure in British comedy with millions of fans, provides $Glonk with a natural level of attention and a foundation for dissemination.

Pump.fun co-founder Alon and Letsbonk.fun founder Tom

Glonk initially debuted on the Letsbonk.fun platform and quickly gained popularity, prompting Pump.fun to launch a competing version, rapidly escalating the competition between the platforms. The personal involvement of both founders in posting calls to support their respective platforms' Glonk further heightened the competition, evolving into a high-profile platform confrontation within the Solana ecosystem. The community views this struggle as a "flag of resistance" against Pump.fun, further stimulating Glonk's topicality and community engagement.

Adding to the drama, the Solana ecosystem project Raydium openly voiced support for the Letsbonk.fun platform. It is worth noting that Raydium and Pump.fun were once allies, with the latter contributing nearly half of Raydium's trading volume and platform revenue. Moreover, Raydium is also advancing its own token issuance platform, LaunchLab. The sudden shift in allegiance undoubtedly adds more tension to this competition. A small subplot is that a few days ago, the official Pump.Fun X account had blocked the founder of Letsbonk.Fun and Raydium developers, which has now been lifted.

According to GMGN data, as of the time of writing, the market cap of the Letsbonk.fun version of Glonk peaked above $18 million, now receding to about $3.7 million, with a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $86.3 million, currently holding the upper hand; while the Pump.fun version of $Glonk saw its market cap drop from a peak of $15 million to about $1.5 million, with a 24-hour trading volume of $55.7 million. The market has expressed its stance on this showdown with real money.

It can be said that this competition surrounding Glonk serves as an amplifier of community sentiment and a re-negotiation of discourse power.

Pump.fun's Dominance is Being Challenged, New Forces Accelerate Rise

The role of Launchpad platforms has evolved from a mere token issuance tool to a battleground for traffic entry and brand competition. Recently, with emerging platforms like Letsbonk.fun, Believe, and LaunchLab rapidly gaining popularity, market competition has intensified. Besides the leading Pump.fun losing market share, even the recently popular Boop.fun has gradually cooled down, leading to a sharp decline in market discussion.

Although Pump.fun still holds a dominant position, its authority is gradually being undermined. Looking at the graduation rates, for example, on May 13, according to Dune data, Pump.fun launched a total of 19,523 tokens that day, with a graduation rate of only 0.7%; in contrast, LaunchLab launched 8,218 tokens with a graduation rate of 1.22%; and Letsbonk.fun launched 7,287 tokens with a graduation rate as high as 1.7%. This indicates that user interest and recognition of emerging platforms are on the rise.

In terms of daily token deployment market share, Pump.fun's share has dropped from a long-standing 95%+ to 57.5% on May 13; during the same period, Letsbonk.fun reached 17.9%, Believe 12.9%, and LaunchLab also hit 5%, indicating a rapid differentiation in the market landscape.

More notably, several recently popular MEME tokens, such as $LAUNCHCOIN, $GOONC, $DUPE, $Hosico, $USELESS, and $IKUN, primarily emerged from Letsbonk.fun and Believe. Particularly, the Believe ecosystem tokens saw a surge, with the platform token LAUNCHCOIN once surpassing $280 million. In contrast, Pump.fun's projects during the same period performed flatly, lacking new highlights.

These changes indicate that the Launchpad market is rapidly diversifying, with competitors gradually eroding Pump.fun's leading advantage. In response to competitive pressure, Pump.fun has recently attempted to enhance platform attractiveness by introducing a creator revenue-sharing mechanism, returning 50% of transaction fees to token creators. However, this move has sparked controversy within the community, as it is seen as potentially exacerbating developer rug risks, and the remaining 50% of revenue still stays with the platform, failing to genuinely benefit users. Competing platforms are also ramping up their incentive mechanisms; for instance, Letsbonk.fun announced on May 13 that it would provide a total of 15,000 USDC in rewards to projects performing well in the following week, further enhancing platform appeal.

In summary, the Launchpad market is entering a new stage characterized by greater diversity and intensified competition. The competition between platforms is no longer limited to who can issue tokens but encompasses comprehensive competition in traffic acquisition, brand building, and user experience, which is also key to becoming the next "hit-making machine."

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