The Protocol: Memecoin Trading Is Suddenly Trump.fun

Memecoin trading is supposed to be lucrative, but also fun. In a strange way, this week’s fee cuts at Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has, for many traders, made it neither. For observers of the spectacle, however, It’s entertaining enough to gawk at the memecoins surrounding former President Donald Trump. Read on.
PLUS:
This article is featured in the latest issue of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.
TRUMP.FUN – Former President Donald Trump’s speech just a couple weeks ago at the Bitcoin Nashville conference now seems like a distant memory. Not only has he been overtaken by Vice President Kamala Harris as the frontrunner in this year’s U.S. presidential election – at least in the eyes of punters on the prediction-betting site Polymarket – but his name and family members are now regularly getting dragged into conversations about memecoins. It started last week when one of his sons, Eric Trump, tweeted that he has “fallen in love with Crypto / DeFi. Stay tuned for a big announcement,” as related by CoinDesk’s Krisztian Sandor. Then on Thursday, a newly launched cryptocurrency on Solana (SOL) called Restore the Republic, or RTR, rumored to be the official token of Donald Trump, began trading, shooting to a $155 million market capitalization within hours after the launch. Eric Trump then warned users of “fake tokens” and said that the “only official Trump project has not been announced.” RTR tumbled 95%. His brother, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted that while he loves “how much the crypto community is embracing Trump,” traders should “beware of fake tokens claiming to be part of the Trump project.” Then there was the former president’s Spaces session on Monday with X owner Elon Musk, during which the pair notably didn’t even mention Bitcoin or crypto. According to The Block, the omission sent prices tumbling for the tokens with names like MAGA Hat and Doland Tremp. The crypto news site Decrypt reported that some 10,000 tokens were launched during the Spaces on the meme coin launchpad Pump.fun, where the $2 issuance fee was completely eliminated earlier this week – making it that much easier and cheaper to launch a token. Based on one account posted on X, after Trump uttered the phrase “rough people” about five times in a row, there were at least 10 distinct memecoins launched with the name “ROUGH PEOPLE.” Some memecoin traders complained that using Pump.fun was “not fun anymore” because there were “10,000 scams.” But for at least one commenter, watching the action felt almost like a news feed: “I don’t even need to watch the space when there’s pump fun.”
ELSEWHERE:
Artistically modified screenshot from code describing new EOF “containers” (Ipsilon/GitHub, modified by CoinDesk using PhotoMosh)
Ethereum developers are steering toward an upgrade that could bring the most fundamental changes in the network’s programming environment since the original smart-contracts blockchain shook up the crypto industry when it launched nearly a decade ago.
The Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) known as EVM Object Format (EOF), which has been discussed extensively in developer circles this year because of some participants’ concerns about possible security risks, is now set to be included in a major package of changes expected later this year or early next, known as the Pectra hard fork.
The EOF proposal is a series of smaller changes aiming to update the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the programming environment that executes smart contracts on the blockchain, and arguably Ethereum’s secret sauce that made it different from Bitcoin and other early distributed networks when it launched in 2015.
Specifically, EOF would make smart contracts more developer friendly, especially for those building decentralized applications in Solidity or Vyper programming languages. The series of changes are incredibly delicate that can break existing smart contracts, so developers have added in a new version, allowing dapp builders to choose which version of the EVM to use when deploying their code.
“EOF will be the first major EVM related change in years,” said Parithosh Jayanthi, a core developer at the Ethereum Foundation, over a text message on Telegram to CoinDesk. “It sets the stage for future upgrades to the EVM and showcases the base layers intent to continue to improving the EVM.”
Click here for the full story by Margaux Nijkerk
Top picks of the past week from our Protocol Village column, highlighting key blockchain tech upgrades and news.
Screenshot from OP_RETURN announcement verifier of Fedi’s open-source pledge, written into a PDF file and then cryptographically hashed (CoinDesk/Fedi/announcement-verifier.replit.app)
1. Fedi, describing itself as a “community superapp” or a “frontend application” atop Fedimint, a protocol for community custody of bitcoin, launched on Aug. 6, according to a blog post. The project simultaneously revealed that on May 4 it included a cryptographic hash of a PDF memo from Fedi pledging to transition its software to fully open-source its software by January 2026. This blog post explains that the cryptographic hash can be verified by dropping the file into the verifier along with the transaction ID.
2. Manta Pacific, the native layer 2 (L2) blockchain of Manta Network, said it’s “the first L2 to adopt a Multiple Data Availability (MultiDA) framework.” According to the team: “This MultiDA strategy will provide uninterrupted service and cost efficiency without impacting user experience or fees. By integrating with partners like Celestia, Nuffle Labs, EigenDA, 0G, Nubit, and Dill, Manta will enhance the security, resilience and uptime of its network. Manta has saved its users over $6 million since December 2023 with Celestia DA.”
3. Cubist, through its key management platform CubeSigner, introduced what is says is “the first and only key management solution for Babylon,” a Bitcoin staking protocol. According to the team: “CubeSigner now supports complete and secure policy-protected workflows for Babylon deposits, early unbondings and withdrawals.
4. Aleph Zero, a privacy-focused blockchain project, has launched an EVM-compatible layer-2 network using Arbitrum Orbit to boost transaction speeds and efficiency.
5. Stacks Foundation, supporting the Bitcoin scaling-layer project Stacks, confirmed Aug. 28 as the new target date to start the activation sequence for its months-delayed “Nakamoto upgrade,” which aims to bring significant improvements to both security and speed, with increased transaction throughput, “100% Bitcoin finality” and mitigation of Bitcoin miner extractable value (MEV).
Fundraisings
Deals and grants
Data and Tokens
Regulatory and Policy
Disclosure
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.
Bradley Keoun is the managing editor of CoinDesk’s Tech & Protocols team. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.