It's often said that during a gold rush, the smartest move is to sell picks and shovels rather than pan for gold yourself. In that vein, Pump.fun (PUMP -6.66%) on Solana and Pons (PONS +3.66%) on the new blockchain by Robinhood Markets are two of the biggest token launchpads in crypto right now. For a fee, these projects and others like them make the formerly onerous process of spinning up a new coin an easy workflow that takes a minimal amount of capital and less than five minutes. The token's price ascending to the moon after launch is, unfortunately, not guaranteed.
Despite only launching about two months ago, Pons has out-earned Pump.fun in daily fees every day since Aug. 29. That might not last once the enthusiasm surrounding the Robinhood Chain starts to taper. So, which of these projects is the better launchpad to buy right now to get exposure to one area of the crypto market's next possible boom?
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Pons is already rivaling its larger competitor
A launchpad project lets anyone mint a token and then start to trade it at once. The launchpad captures a sliver of the value of every trade thereafter.
Pump.fun has been on Solana since the start of 2024, and it was instrumental in stoking the multiple meme coin manias that followed shortly after that, which have become inseparable from the chain's identity. Its token launched in mid-2025.
Pons' home, the Robinhood Chain, was only opened for business on July 1, and Pons hit the market just a few days later. So far, that chain has been largely characterized by the same type of intensive meme coin trading that was previously the domain of Solana, so Pons is positioned very favorably right out of the gate, much like Pump.fun was.
During the 30-day period ended Sept. 10, data from DefiLlama indicates that Pons had $96.9 million in fees, versus Pump.fun's $151.9 million. That Pump.fun figure covers its parent protocol, which also includes a decentralized exchange and a trading bot; on the launchpad alone, it collected $46.3 million, so Pons leads on daily fees. But there are several complications to be aware of.
Pons retained only $17.8 million of the fees it captured, of which it returned $8.1 million to its holders via buybacks. In contrast, Pump.fun retained $57.1 million in fees, of which it returned $26.2 million to its holders. In practice, Pons sends 9% of its fees to its holders, plus a tiny slice to the exchange where the tokens are traded. Pump.fun, on the other hand, distributes 17% of its fees to holders.
So both of these projects are raking in revenue from their launchpad operations, and sending a slice of it to their holders, but for now, Pump.fun passes on a larger portion of the value.
Should you buy either of these coins?
It is likely that both Pons and Pump.fun will see their prices rise considerably during the coming quarters. Nonetheless, investors should probably not buy either of them for now due to their substantial risks.
Pump.fun has a major legal overhang. Three of the founders of its parent company, Baton, are defendants in a class action lawsuit that alleges racketeering based on acts of wire fraud, illegal gambling, and unlicensed money transmission. The complaint against entities related to the Solana blockchain in the same lawsuit was recently dropped, but Pump.fun's portion of the suit is still active.
The issue with Pons is that it hasn't been around long enough. Its only been operating for about 10 weeks long, and in that period, Robinhood has been paying certain transaction costs for the users of its chain. That subsidy expires on Sept. 29, and it could lead to lower chain activity, which would hurt Pons and its ability to generate revenue.
CRYPTO: PONS
Key Data Points
The larger issue is that both Pump.fun and Pons are, for now, almost entirely dedicated to launching meme coins rather than serious crypto projects. The speculative mania and high liquidity environment that both have enjoyed can dissipate as quickly as they arrived, and buying either coin right now would mean paying a premium for them while they're hyped up rather than accumulating them at the lows.
Still, Pons likely has more potential upside for now, and it's the better option of the two. Its position in the Robinhood Chain's ecosystem could prove very profitable for its holders as the network grows, which it's only just starting to do.
