Creator Capital Markets: How Pump.fun Changed Streaming in 2025

Last year this time the Solana meme coin launch pad Pumping fun had disabled its livestreaming feature after creators flooded the platform with videos of dangerous stunts in attempts to pump their tokens.

Now Pump.fun sees streamers as the future of its platform, with plans to take on other livestreaming competitors: “Our plan is to kill Facebook, TikTok and Twitch. On Solana,” says the company placed on X in July.

The move is announced as “creating capital markets– the idea that viewers can help fund their favorite creators while having a stake in the future of their content through a crypto token. It’s in stark contrast to the traditional model, which relies primarily on viewers donating money to creators, with little to nothing in return.

Pump.fun boosted this vision when it has revamped its fee structure in September to send more of the fees it generates from each transaction into the pockets of token makers. This resulted in some streamers earn tens of thousands of dollars within just a few days as their content went viral.

But the initial momentum quickly crashed back into reality as it became clear that creators and traders made the most money when they ventured into crazy stunts. And Pump.fun found itself back where it started, with a model that encourages creators to walk the line of controversy. Now the sector is thinking about how to change this.

Live streams return

On April 4Pump.fun has rolled out its updated streaming feature to 5% of its users with updated user guidelines and a strengthened moderation system. It then slowly expanded the feature to more users, making sure it didn’t get out of hand like it did in 2024.

Two months later, crypto influencer Jake said “SolJakey‘Hillhouse launched Basedd Housea content crew full of up-and-coming influencers living together in a dorm with weekly episodes and meme coins tied to each character. It is from this that the now established makers have made their name, just like the crazy ones I seem and crypto rapper Wish. Pump.fun directly funded the entire venture, Hillhouse told earlier Declutter.

In June, other creators and viral moments also began to bubble up around them.

Leland King Fawcette became the second fastest person race through all 50 US statesaccording to Fifty States Cluball during livestreaming on Pump.fun. A Ukrainian man called Riken said the words “Pump fun” a million times during the stream. And one man even streamed live the birth of his childand then named her ‘Solana’ – after the crypto network that hosts the meme coin machine.

It was clear that Pump.fun had tapped into something with its audience, and it was then that the company began investing in what it now saw as the future of the platform.

Pump.fun invests

Pump.fun started paying people to post clips from the launch pad’s top creators, the opposite of traditional livestreaming platforms, which required their creators to find, manage, and pay these “clippers.” Alon Cohen, co-founder of Pump.fun, told us Declutter this was a bet on “boosting social activity” in the hopes of driving greater adoption of crypto-native livestreaming.

But it was in September, when Pump.fun has updated its reimbursement model to increase creators’ revenues on the platform tenfold, streaming began to explode. On one day in September, Pump.fun handed out more than $4 million in creator fees, according to Dune facts. This meant that streamers, who created their own meme coins with every viral (they hope) event, no longer had to sell their own supply of these tokens to make good money.

Pump.fun then doubled its bet on livestreaming. It started to be shipped streamer backpack sets to help creators improve the quality of their streams. The launch pad also hired an unknown number of recruiters, who helped Pump.fun offer contracts to traditional content creators.

Alec Strasmorea former musician’s assistant PostMalonewas one of these recruiters. said Stasmore Declutter in September that he would reach out to content creators in the traditional space who had large audiences but struggled to monetize effectively, and introduce them to Pump.fun and help them on board.

The exact terms of these streamer contracts remain secret. However, a source familiar with these deals has said so Declutter that the contracts included obligations regarding streaming time and token supply control, and were usually short-term: weeks and months, rather than years. This resulted in a stream of well-known influencers outside of crypto joining the platform.

Chad Tepper, a former member of Jake Paul’s influencer team Team 10, who has millions of followers about social mediawas among those who joined Pump.fun. Others, like the retired League of Legends esports player Michael “BunnyFuFuuKurylo also joined the platform.

Normally these tokens would debut with a immediate increase in price, as the content creators’ audience purchased the token. But more often than not, it didn’t last long: the hype would eventually fade and the tokens would then slowly go down.

These scenarios resulted in streamers making big bags during the first few days of trading (BunnyFuFu made it over $130,000 in fees in its first three days), before their fees decreased as trading volume plummeted. (BunnyFuFu only made $29,000 in the next three months). The short shelf life was not only harmful to the makers; traders and viewers also made less money over time.

And as a result, many of these traditional streamers and creators have since stopped streaming on Pump.fun.

“A lot of those didn’t work out. Maybe the best way is not to spend a lot of money on Web2 streamers,” Hillhouse told Declutterreferring to streamers outside of the crypto or “Web3” space. “But you do get the few that matter, that now become a proof of concept,” he said, pointing to Misfits boxer BDave and TikTok influencer Minikon as a shining example. Both makers‘tokens are down more than 90% from the highs reached shortly after launch.

“Moving forward, I don’t think so [Pump.fun] should do that again,” Hillhouse said, suggesting future deals should be “more long-term.”

Virality is important

But Pump.fun’s biggest success stories this year came from its homegrown talent: Hillhouse’s Basedd House, the random people looking for break world records on the siteand the Bagwork boys.

In September, two guys, Chris and Mike, created a token called Bagwork and then livestreamed various stunts to work those bags. The first stunt was relatively mild: he ran onto the field during a baseball game. They then went mega-viral after filming themselves stealing Gym influencer Bradley Martyn’s hat and get a slap for it. The Bagwork token rose by 2,000% as a result, netting the duo $49,000 in fees. All it took was just one viral video.

Just days later, the couple leaked unreleased songs by rapper Drake, who brought international recognition and legal trouble to the Bagwork brand, in the form of an apparent cease and desist notification. This stunt earned the Bagwork boys $83,000 in fees in just two days.

But the token fell victim to the same ailment that many meme coins before it suffered: once the attention, hype and controversy fade, so does the price. Bagwork is currently down 96% from its all-time high market cap of $53.8 million, during the Drake leaks, and is now at $1.9 million, according to DEX screener.

In an interview with DeclutterMike from Bagwork called that period ‘the best few days of my life’. He thought he was about to become one of the “biggest and richest” streamers in the world. However, as the attention waned, he realized there is “definitely a little problem” with Pump.fun streamers “needing crazier content to pump their tokens.”

Hillhouse agreed that there is something wrong with the current model. He suggested more community activations that would require tokens, such as voting on what a creator does in the stream.

Pump.fun did not respond Declutter‘s request for comment on how the company plans to address this tension.

The coming year could be a make or break situation for the creative capital markets. Will Pump.fun find a way to restore its dependence on sensational viral moments? Or will creator capital markets fade into oblivion like the many meme coin trends before them?