PumpSwap Hits $1.28B Volume Record as Solana Memecoin Frenzy Returns
Pump.fun’s native DEX processes $1.28B in 24 hours, but low fee generation ($2.98M) exposes the retail-driven, high-churn nature of the rally.
Solana’s memecoin factory is back in overdrive.
PumpSwap, the native decentralized exchange (DEX) for Pump.fun, recorded a staggering $1.28 billion in trading volume on January 5, marking a new daily high for the platform. The surge signals a sharp revival in retail risk appetite following a sluggish fourth quarter, with traders aggressively rotating into high-beta assets as Bitcoin stabilizes above $92,000.
The Disconnect: Volume vs. Value
While the headline volume rivals major centralized exchanges, the revenue story paints a different picture. According to DeFiLlama data, PumpSwap generated just $2.98 million in fees despite the billion-dollar turnover.
This discrepancy, a 0.23% effective take rate, highlights the nature of the current flow: rapid-fire, low-liquidity churn rather than deep institutional positioning. Most transactions remained under $100, confirming that this rally is driven almost exclusively by retail speculation.
The spike comes amid the broader memecoin comeback trade building since the turn of the year, especially on Solana, with traders rotating into high-beta corners.
The Anime Rotation
The flavor of the week is distinctly Japanese. On-chain data indicates a heavy concentration of volume in anime-themed tokens during Asian trading hours, shifting away from the chaotic political metas that dominated late 2025. This rotation suggests the “attention economy” is pivoting back to cultural niches as liquidity improves post-holidays.
Institutional Context
For market makers, the resurgence of PumpSwap volume serves as a stress test for Solana’s infrastructure. Unlike previous cycles where Pump.fun tokens migrated to Raydium, they now graduate directly to PumpSwap. This closed-loop ecosystem captures more value for the protocol but isolates liquidity from the broader aggregate market, potentially fragmenting price discovery for early-stage assets.
Solana (SOL) reacted mutedly to the on-chain activity, trading flat at $138.50, suggesting that while network usage is spiking, the value accrual from these micro-transactions remains minimal for the base layer asset.
