What pump.fun actually is
pump.fun is a launchpad. Anyone can create a token there: name, ticker, image, finished. There is no presale, no team allocation, no approval. The token starts at a tiny price and is tradeable from the first second. That openness is the whole point, and the whole problem.
The bonding curve
Instead of an order book there is a mathematical curve. Each buy moves the price up a step, each sell moves it down. There is always a price, whether anyone else is trading or not. That is what makes the first minutes so brutal: a handful of large buys is enough to make the chart go vertical, and a handful of sells brings it straight back.
- ~2 min
- until a coin is live
- 0 SOL
- starting capital required from the creator
- ~1 in 100
- coins reach graduation, roughly
Graduation: when the curve is full
When the coin reaches a certain market cap, the bonding curve is "filled". The collected liquidity moves to a decentralised exchange and the coin becomes a normal token with a normal pool. The scene calls this "graduated" or "migrated". From here other rules apply: liquidity can be thin, whales can move the price, and bots are waiting.
The first five minutes
- Look at the dev wallet: if the creator holds 20 percent, they also hold your exit.
- Spot bundles: ten wallets that bought in the same second are not a coincidence.
- Check the socials: an X account from yesterday with 40 followers is not proof of a community.
- Don't buy the green candle: whoever sees the first pump usually also sees the first dump.
Run a coin check on any launchMint and freeze authority, LP lock, top holders, insiders, dev share.