Pump.fun’s bold streaming claims over Rumble lack independent proof.

A contentious claim has emerged from Pump.fun, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad, asserting that its live-streaming feature has already surpassed Rumble in terms of average concurrent live streams. This bold declaration, made by co-founder Alon Cohen on X, also suggested the platform is nearing 1% of Twitch’s and 10% of Kick’s market share. However, independent data to substantiate these figures remains conspicuously absent, raising questions about the veracity of the platform’s rapid ascent in a competitive digital landscape.

The company’s live-streaming functionality was initially introduced in 2024, aiming to integrate real-time broadcasts with token launches. This initiative, however, faced a significant setback later that year when the feature was suspended indefinitely due to reports of abusive and dangerous content, including instances of self-harm stunts broadcast to promote token launches. Following a period of hiatus, the feature was cautiously reintroduced earlier this year to a limited subset of users, approximately 5%, under significantly stricter moderation and safety protocols. It was subsequently rolled out to all users, marking a strategic effort by the team to drive increased adoption of the revitalized feature.

Central to Pump.fun‘s strategy is its positioning as a radical alternative to established live-streaming giants like Twitch, Kick, and YouTube. Alon Cohen has highlighted several key advantages, including immediate creator fees, with a contentious claim that creators could earn “times 100 what they’ll earn elsewhere.” Other purported benefits include instant viewership from an incentivized community, free clipping capabilities on X, and continuous 24/7 support. This pitch is specifically tailored to younger creators, particularly Gen Z, who are reportedly disillusioned by perceived limitations in monetization or censorship on mainstream platforms.

Despite these ambitious claims, the lack of verifiable data poses a challenge for independent assessment. For context, StreamCharts data indicates that Rumble has maintained an average of approximately 251 concurrent live channels and over 56,000 concurrent viewers over the past 30 days. For Pump.fun to have “flipped” Rumble, its active live streams would need to exceed these thresholds. While comprehensive data exists for major platforms, concrete, third-party metrics for Pump.fun‘s live-streaming activity are not publicly available, even as its native token briefly achieved a market capitalization exceeding $3 billion.

Market Challenges and Creator Incentives

The rapid expansion of Pump.fun and its token-driven model has attracted attention across the industry, but not without skepticism regarding its long-term sustainability. Bob Bodily, founder of Odin.fun, a memecoin launchpad within the Bitcoin ecosystem, expressed concerns that the platform’s unique system could ultimately alienate creators. Bodily argued on X that while the initial appeal of earning through token launches is strong, creators might eventually face adverse consequences when token volume inevitably declines, potentially leading to dissatisfaction over underperforming tokens.

Bodily further critiqued the inherent incentives of the model, suggesting it prioritizes volatility over stable earnings. “Volume-based creator rewards incentivize pump and dumps,” he stated, implying that creators might be encouraged to promote rapid price fluctuations to drive trading volume and maximize rewards. While Pump.fun promotes promises of recurring revenue and instant fees, critics contend that these mechanisms foster short-term speculative extraction rather than supporting the development of stable, engaged communities. As the live-streaming sector increasingly grapples with evolving monetization strategies, Pump.fun’s gamble on speculative token models as a shortcut to earnings remains a hotly debated topic, with critics warning that these very mechanisms could deter creators in the long run.