BonkFun Cuts Creator Fees to 0% in Bid for '2024 Glory' — Are Meme Coin Launchpad Battles Resurging?

BonkFun has announced a significant change to its fee structure, dropping creator fees to 0% in a move aimed at reigniting its presence in the competitive meme coin launchpad market. This update is seen as a strategic response to the growing fragmentation among meme coin trading activities, where traders are increasingly aware of transaction costs.

Key Takeaways

BonkFun has eliminated creator fees entirely for its "BONK Classic" launches.
The swap fee has been lowered to 0.30%, directing most revenue back into liquidity.
The changes respond to trader frustrations regarding high creator fees.
The platform previously dominated the meme coin market with innovative fee structures.
Competition remains fierce, with Pump.fun currently leading in new token launches and trading volume.

BonkFun Adjusts Fee Structure Amid Fragmented Meme Coin Market

BonkFun is taking steps to reshape the economics of meme coin launches on the Solana network. The platform has declared a dramatic reduction in creator fees, signaling a renewed endeavor to regain its footing in a crowded launchpad landscape.

In an announcement shared on X, BonkFun revealed it is initiating "BONK Classic" launches, which will have zero creator fees. Additionally, they've lowered the swap fee to just 0.30%, with the majority of that fee being funneled back into liquidity provisions.

This new setup echoes a model that thrived during meme coin trading in 2024, noted for its speculative surges in Raydium-based tokens that reached multiple billion-dollar valuations.

BonkFun's New Model Tackles Fragmentation in Meme Coin Activity

This change comes at a crucial time when meme coin trading is both active and fragmented, with traders demonstrating a heightened awareness of fees and the incentives provided. BonkFun presented this update as a direct response to growing frustrations among traders regarding costly creator fees that no longer align with their interests.

Under the new Classic model, creators will not earn any profits from trading activities. Instead, the focus shifts to ensuring liquidity depth, which supports smoother price movements. In tandem with these changes, BonkFun has introduced an alternative option named "BONKERS" launches, where swap fees can be reduced by up to 50%, allowing for higher creator fees for communities seeking sustainable revenue channels.

In these cases, rewards will be distributed solely in one quoted asset, such as tokens valued in USD, rather than divided among various assets.

BonkFun, known formally as LetsBONK.fun, made its debut in April 2025 as a collaborative initiative between the BONK community and Raydium. It quickly transformed into a central hub for the effortless creation of meme coins on Solana. Within just three days of its launch, over 2,700 tokens were generated, accumulating approximately $800,000 in fees and consequently boosting BONK’s price by more than 50% in its initial week.

By July 2025, the platform had surpassed Pump.fun in market share, commanding over 55% of Solana's token issuance during peak periods. A standout feature of its early insight was a creator fee model that allocated a portion of trading fees to developers while directing a significant share of revenues into BONK buybacks and burns.

Meme Coin Launch Race: Has the Fee Change Altered the Competitive Landscape?

However, this fee model has faced challenges as market dynamics evolved. Recent data indicates that Pump.fun is currently leading the pack, having launched nearly 30,000 new tokens in the past 24 hours, with trading volumes exceeding $109 million and daily fees surpassing $1.27 million.

Meme Coin Market Data

In contrast, BonkFun managed under 2,000 new tokens, about $8 million in trading volume, and under $100,000 in fees.

Graduated tokens and active address data suggest a swift shift in momentum between different platforms.

Token and Address Data

This fee revision comes shortly after Pump.fun’s announcement to revamp creator incentives, rolling out tools that let fees be distributed across multiple wallets. Pump.fun aims to address incentives that have made coin creation low-risk while leaving traders vulnerable—an issue that has pervaded the meme coin market.

BonkFun's pivot back toward zero creator fees for specific launches underscores the ongoing struggle between ensuring fair launches and providing rewards for developers.

Originally, before the introduction of creator fees, meme coins thrived mainly on hype, equitable distribution, and trading volume. This often led to explosive price increases followed by sharp declines. The adoption of fees intended to curb rug pulls and stimulate longer-term engagement instead raised costs for traders, thus altering their behavior.

Market Reaction Chart

So far, market reactions to BonkFun's changes have been cautiously optimistic, with the BONK token trading around $0.000012, marking an over 8% increase over the last 24 hours and a nearly 86% rise in trading volume, now exceeding $300 million.