Cumulative revenue exceeds $520 million.

The total number of deployed tokens is approximately 7.41 million.

The number of users is 7.41 million.

This is the cumulative data of Pump.fun over a short year. It can be said that Pump.fun's leading position and revenue achievements in the meme track are very similar to OpenSea, which was in the spotlight in 2021. Both seized the opportunity in the Meme and NFT tracks and quickly rose to become nearly unreplicable success models.

Pump.fun Token Issuance Model: Dutch Auction Sparks Outrage

On February 9, Wu revealed that Pump.fun is preparing to issue tokens and conduct a public offering, adopting a Dutch auction model, and is collaborating with centralized exchanges to develop the system.

Earlier, Binance co-founder He Yi also mentioned using the Dutch auction to innovate the token IEO model during an AMA. A Dutch auction, also known as a "descending price auction," starts with a high price and decreases at a fixed rate, allowing participants to bid at a price they deem appropriate.

Further details about this Dutch auction come from KOL He Bi: due to the project's magnitude and requirements, the public offering systems of major exchanges currently do not meet Pump.fun's needs, and almost all domestic first, second, and third-tier exchanges are developing a Dutch auction system for Pump.fun. It is also known that there will be no airdrops, and 50% of the tokens will be sold through the Dutch auction.

As of now, no related exchanges have disclosed more cooperation details or customization news. However, the news has caused a stir among retail investors. Certainly, it would be a joyous occasion for retail investors to receive airdrops given Pump.fun's significant profits, but the issue lies in the Dutch auction model, where retail investors not only cannot gain airdrop benefits but also need to participate in a more competitive Dutch auction model. The investment costs for retail investors are likely not low, but the risks of obtaining returns are also increasing. At this stage, Pump.fun's Dutch auction model seems more like a bloodthirsty and greedy sale.

The Dutch auction model was once popular during the NFT explosion phase, with many top hot projects favoring minting NFTs through the Dutch auction model. The core feature is to maximize the revenue from selling NFTs; even if the minting phase does not go smoothly, the gradually decreasing price ensures that NFTs do not become unsold. However, for investors, it feels more like a gamble, where holding more costs requires participation in a fierce Gas War to successfully purchase NFTs, leading to severe internal competition among investors. Ultimately, the risks are borne by the participants, while the profits are consumed by the sellers.

Pump.fun Co-founder Alon Responds: Token Issuance is False News

As the news of Pump.fun's token issuance continues to ferment, Pump.fun co-founder Alon posted on social media: "Seeing rumors about a possible Pump.fun token launch, these are false news. It is advised not to believe any information released by non-Pump.fun official accounts. In the past year of development, the Pump.fun team has mainly focused on improving the product but is always committed to providing users with the returns they deserve. Good things take time."

However, some netizens believe that recent lawsuits against Pump.fun in multiple locations in the U.S. may affect whether it ultimately issues tokens. Perhaps Pump.fun will wait for a while and choose an appropriate time to issue tokens, or it may be forced to modify its token economic model due to dissatisfaction with the "Dutch auction model," leaving a portion for airdrops.

Will OpenSea Issue Tokens: IPO or Token Issuance? Struggling with Hesitation

At its peak, although OpenSea did not profit from GAS, the 2.5% high transaction fee made OS very profitable. In 2022, many believed that after raising $13 billion, OpenSea was unlikely to issue tokens and would likely opt for an IPO to cash out.

In the subsequent sharp decline in revenue, OpenSea faced the dilemma of dying if it did not issue tokens. Providing returns to users and the community is a tradition in Web3. Back then, Uni was forced to issue tokens to regain lost users due to Sushi's pressure, and OpenSea similarly faced the risk of losing a large number of users to Blur if it did not issue tokens. Ultimately, it lost its position as the number one NFT trading market in the competition.

Finally, on November 4, 2024, we saw a glimmer of hope regarding whether OpenSea would issue tokens. OpenSea's official Twitter announced that a "new OpenSea" would be launched in December and opened a site for registering test addresses, with over 700,000 addresses currently on the waiting list.

However, just yesterday (February 11), according to an official announcement from the OpenSea Foundation: all related rumors on the X platform today are untrue, and users are reminded to only trust links published by official accounts to avoid being scammed. Previously, there were rumors about OpenSea's TGE, but the official has clearly denied it.

Conclusion

The rise of Pump.fun and OpenSea relies more on market conditions, product strength, first-mover advantages, etc. However, their subsequent development relies more on the contribution of investor transaction fees. When retail investors hope to receive returns from the platform, if the platform's strategy does not meet retail investors' expectations or even goes against them, it may further confirm the saying "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world." Because the community expects a win-win celebration, not just the project party reaping all the benefits!