How to trade pump.fun coins
Pump.fun made launching a Solana meme coin take minutes, so thousands launch every day. That creates huge moves and huge losses. Here is how the mechanics work and what to have in place before you trade them.
How a pump.fun coin works
A new token starts on a bonding curve: a formula where each buy pushes the price up and each sell pushes it down. When enough buying completes the curve, the token graduates and its liquidity moves to a decentralized exchange pool, where it trades like any other Solana token.
Why these coins are so risky
- Most tokens never graduate and fade within hours.
- Bots and snipers often buy in the first seconds.
- Creators and early wallets can sell into new buyers.
- Price often drops right after graduation.
What to have before you trade one
- A way to read the token page quickly: Reading a token page.
- Checks for insiders and permissions: Holders and concentration.
- A position size that survives a zero: Position sizing.
- An exit written before the entry: Making an exit plan.
Frequently asked questions
- What is pump.fun?
- Pump.fun is a Solana platform where anyone can launch a token in minutes. New tokens trade on a bonding curve, and those that attract enough buying graduate to a decentralized exchange.
- What does it mean when a pump.fun coin graduates?
- Graduation happens when a token's bonding curve completes. Its liquidity then moves to a regular decentralized exchange pool, where it trades like any other Solana token.
- Do most pump.fun coins make money?
- No. The large majority of pump.fun tokens never graduate and lose most of their value soon after launch.
- Can I paper trade pump.fun coins?
- You can paste a pump.fun link or token address into PaperTrader to look the token up. When a live executable quote is available, you can paper trade it with simulated SOL.
More meme coin trading guides
Learn it properly: Foundations
What a meme coin is, how a Solana swap works, and how to read a token page before trading. This guide covers the basics; the course module walks through each step on a worked example, with interactive demos.
The course opens with a free lesson; every other lesson comes with Pro.
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