Pump.fun unveiled Project Ascend on Sept. 2, introducing a tiered fee structure designed to increase creator earnings by 10 times while making memecoins more sustainable for long-term growth.
The initiative comes as the platform regained market dominance from competitor Bonkfun, according to Blockworks data.
The centerpiece of Project Ascend is Dynamic Fees V1, a market cap-based pricing system exclusive to PumpSwap that adjusts creator fees based on token performance.
Higher market cap coins carry lower fees, allowing successful projects to scale while maximizing early-stage funding for creators to deploy toward marketing, exchange listings, and operational costs.
In an audio shared on Sept. 2, co-founder Alon Cohen said:
“For us as a space to grow 100x, we need far more success cases. Coins with value that can last and giving retail genuine opportunities in making money. At the moment, we’re really limited at these kinds of opportunities if solid teams don’t want to launch coins.”
The dynamic structure addresses previous creator fee limitations that imposed flat rates regardless of project success. Cohen noted that traditional high creator fees create “really low ceilings on these coins because it’s difficult for whales to size into trades when they’re instantly down as much as 10%.”
Dominance recovery
Project Ascend follows Pump.fun’s August revenue recovery to $35 million, capturing 68.2% of Solana’s launchpad market dominance after losing ground to Bonkfun in July.
The competitor had seized $37.4 million in revenue (77% market share) compared to Pump.fun’s $15.4 million, prompting strategic adjustments that culminated in the platform’s comeback.
One of these adjustments was Pump.fun’s nearly $44.5 million in PUMP token purchases during August, demonstrating a commitment to its native token ecosystem.
The new fee structure applies to all PumpSwap tokens regardless of launch date, enabling existing creators and communities to access enhanced funding opportunities.
Protocol fees and autocompounding rates to liquidity providers remain unchanged, maintaining trader economics while boosting creator compensation.
Streamlined community takeover
Project Ascend features accelerated processing for Community Takeover (CTO) applications, reducing approval times from days to hours.
The CTO mechanism allows communities to redirect creator fees from original deployers to active project leaders who demonstrate ongoing development and marketing efforts.
The launchpad announced:
“Don’t think a creator deserves Creator Fees? Submit a CTO application to begin receiving Creator Fees on a coin you’ve taken over.”
Cohen positioned the initiative as attracting mainstream talent to Solana, stating Pump.fun will become “the hub for the most successful projects and creators the world has ever seen.”
The platform targets exponential increases in creator onboarding across streaming, startup, and community-building verticals.
