Solana News Today: Pump.fun’s Project Ascend Aims to Solve Meme Coin Longevity

PUMP token, the native cryptocurrency of Solana-based meme coin launchpad Pump.fun, has surged 14% following the announcement of "Project Ascend," a major platform upgrade aimed at enhancing creator rewards and improving ecosystem sustainability [2]. The initiative introduces Dynamic Fees V1, a tiered system where creator fees decrease as a project’s market cap increases. This update applies to all PumpSwap tokens, both new and existing, while maintaining the same protocol and liquidity provider fee allocations. Pump.fun described the model as a strategic move to "accelerate growth and ensure longevity" for its community-driven ecosystem [2].

Under the new system, creators can earn up to 10x more through marketing, funding, and scaling opportunities. Pump.fun emphasized that this structure would drive exponential talent onboarding, including streamers and startups. The platform also highlighted its broader vision of positioning itself as a hub for community-driven crypto innovation [2]. Project Ascend follows Pump.fun hitting 1.3 million active addresses in July 2025, surpassing all other Solana launchpads. However, the platform has also seen significant volatility, with traders collectively losing $66 million in the same period, over 60% of which ended the month in the red [2].

The announcement of Project Ascend coincided with a notable price rebound for the PUMP token. As of late August 2025, the token was trading around $0.003, up from an all-time low of $0.00228 in late July. The price surge was supported by Pump.fun's ongoing token buyback program, which saw the platform repurchase $10.6 million worth of PUMP tokens in the last week alone, bringing the total buybacks to nearly $59 million, or 4.3% of supply [2]. In the 24 hours following the announcement, PUMP traded with a 24-hour volume of over $220 million, according to CoinMarketCap data [2].

The PUMP token has seen significant movement in recent months. As of late August 2025, its price had increased by 24.99% in the last seven days and was 11.46% higher than the previous day's close [1]. The token’s price remains below the initial offering price of $0.004, which was set during its July 2025 ICO. The ICO raised approximately $500 million by offering 150 billion tokens, representing 15% of the total 1 trillion supply [1]. The tokenomics of PUMP allocate 33% of the supply to the ICO, 24% to ecosystem and community efforts, 20% to the founding team, and 13% to early investors, with the remainder dedicated to liquidity, governance, and incentives [1].

Pump.fun, as a launchpad, continues to dominate the Solana meme coin market, holding 84% of market share according to Jupiter data [2]. The platform has also surpassed $800 million in lifetime fees through its 1% swap charges. The combination of Project Ascend’s fee model, buyback strategy, and strong market position positions Pump.fun as a key player in the Solana ecosystem. However, the token’s current price remains below its ICO level, suggesting that further growth may depend on sustained community participation and continued platform innovation.

Source:

[1] Convert Pump.fun (PUMP) to Ethereum (ETH) (https://www.theblock.co/price-converter/pump-to-eth)

[2] PUMP Price Surges 14% as Pump.fun Unveils 'Project Ascend' (https://coingape.com/pump-price-surges-14-as-pump-fun-unveils-project-ascend/)