Did Memecoins Kill Altcoins?
Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen argues that most tech-focused altcoins offer the same value proposition as memecoins—except with low liquidity, high fully diluted valuations, and heavy venture capital involvement. And we all know how that story goes—VCs cashing out while retail investors are left holding the bag.
Cohen was responding to claims that Pump.fun disrupted the altcoin price cycle, clarifying that the platform existed months before the sector’s downturn in April 2024. According to him, the real reason for the crash? Retail investors were burned too badly in the last cycle to jump back into the so-called "future of finance." Instead, most people just want to make a little money while having fun—tech innovation be damned.
This debate underscores the growing divide between investors who believe in altcoins for their utility and those who trade purely for speculation.
Pump.fun launched in January 2024, riding the wave of an already thriving memecoin ecosystem fueled by online communities across X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, Telegram, and Discord. At its peak, the Total3 indicator—which measures the total crypto market cap excluding $BTC and $ETH —hit roughly $788 billion in March 2024.
Then came the crash. By April 2024, altcoin prices plummeted, and they didn’t recover until a historic crypto rally in November, sparked by Donald Trump’s re-election in the U.S.
Some analysts argue the market is simply oversaturated—too many tokens, too little capital to go around. Yet, despite this, altcoins with institutional backing consistently outperformed those without. As Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu points out, institutional investors buy assets on the open market, helping to support prices, whereas retail-driven projects often lack that stability.
So, are memecoins really to blame for the altcoin slump, or is this just another case of an overextended market correcting itself?
Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen argues that most tech-focused altcoins offer the same value proposition as memecoins—except with low liquidity, high fully diluted valuations, and heavy venture capital involvement. And we all know how that story goes—VCs cashing out while retail investors are left holding the bag.
Cohen was responding to claims that Pump.fun disrupted the altcoin price cycle, clarifying that the platform existed months before the sector’s downturn in April 2024. According to him, the real reason for the crash? Retail investors were burned too badly in the last cycle to jump back into the so-called "future of finance." Instead, most people just want to make a little money while having fun—tech innovation be damned.
This debate underscores the growing divide between investors who believe in altcoins for their utility and those who trade purely for speculation.
Pump.fun launched in January 2024, riding the wave of an already thriving memecoin ecosystem fueled by online communities across X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, Telegram, and Discord. At its peak, the Total3 indicator—which measures the total crypto market cap excluding $BTC and $ETH —hit roughly $788 billion in March 2024.
Then came the crash. By April 2024, altcoin prices plummeted, and they didn’t recover until a historic crypto rally in November, sparked by Donald Trump’s re-election in the U.S.
Some analysts argue the market is simply oversaturated—too many tokens, too little capital to go around. Yet, despite this, altcoins with institutional backing consistently outperformed those without. As Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu points out, institutional investors buy assets on the open market, helping to support prices, whereas retail-driven projects often lack that stability.
So, are memecoins really to blame for the altcoin slump, or is this just another case of an overextended market correcting itself?
