Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has rolled out a new feature that shifts rewards toward memecoin traders rather than its deployers — a tweak to its fee model that once generated over $15 million in a single day at its peak.
In a post to X on Tuesday, Pump.fun said the platform’s memecoin creators can now decide whether a token “truly deserves” Creator Fees, or whether it’s best to redirect rewards to traders engaging with the token through “Cashback Coins.”
Pump.fun’s original model features Creator Fees, giving token creators 0.3% of all fees generated by the tokens they launch.
However, Pump.fun said not all tokens deserve Creator Fees because many tokens achieve success without a team or project lead, thereby disproportionately rewarding token deployers.
Creator Fees need change. Not every token deserves Creator Fees.
Now, users have the ability to decide whether a token truly deserves Creator Fees, or whether it makes more sense to reward the traders engaging with the token.
Cashback Coins are now live. Learn more 👇 pic.twitter.com/UbYoAbQ1Ya
— Pump.fun (@Pumpfun) February 17, 2026
“Now, traders can choose to engage with tokens they feel the most aligned with, ultimately letting the market decide who gets rewarded and where the bar is set.”
Pump.fun said coin creators must choose between the Creator Fees or Trader Cashback model before launching. Once chosen, the decision is irreversible.
Terminal, a crypto trading platform built into Pump.fun, said Cashback Coins are generated on every trade made and are only accessible through Terminal.
It comes as analysts from onchain analytics firm Santiment said on Friday that memecoins are showing signs of a potential bottom.
“This collective acceptance of the ‘end of the meme era’ is a classic capitulation signal,” Santiment said, explaining that when a sector of the market is completely written off, it is often the “contrarian time” to start paying attention.
Pump.fun fees have fallen over the last year
Pump.fun’s new rewards feature comes as it recorded $31.8 million worth of fees in January, marking a 75.6% fall from the $148.1 million posted in January 2025 — the platform’s best-performing month to date.
Pump.fun has brought in $15.6 million so far in February, putting it on track to fall short of its January total.
The change to the rewards model also follows months of criticism that only a small number of traders were profiting on Pump.fun, while the vast majority of retail traders were incurring losses.
Data from Dune Analytics shows that of the 58.7 million crypto wallets that have interacted with Pump.fun, only 4.76 million have profited between $1,000 and $10,000, while 969,780 wallets have posted winnings between $10,000 and $100,000.
Less than 13,700 Pump.fun wallets have reached millionaire status on the platform.
The new feature was received well by many in the Pump.fun community, while others, such as X user Coos, pondered whether the rewards model could reduce incentives for developers to launch new coins:
“So devs have less reasons to push coins longer, as the most lucrative time is when coins are still on pf, and have just graduated where there is the most volume.”
Coinbase’s Base shut down its Creator Rewards offering
While Pump.fun has changed its rewards model, others have shut down their rewards programs entirely.
On Feb. 10, Coinbase’s Base App sunset its Creator Rewards program as part of a strategic shift to focus entirely on tradable assets.
Related: Zora debuts attention markets on Solana, betting on social trends
The Creator Rewards program launched in July and was intended to make Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2, a more social ecosystem, where activity translated into earnings.
The Base App X account said it had paid around $450,000 to 17,000 creators over seven months, with data suggesting that creators earned an average of $26.
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