Pump.fun launches Cashback Coins reward feature
Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has rolled out a new feature that shifts rewards to memecoin traders instead of its employers — a tweak to its payment model that has peaked at more than $15 million in one day.
In a post to X on Tuesday, Pump.fun said the platform's memecoin creators are now deciding whether a token “really deserves” creator fees or whether it's better to pass the rewards on to participating merchants via “Cashback Coins.”
Pamp.fun's original model features creator fees, which are 0.3% of the fees generated by tokens that token creators launch.
However, Pump.fun says that not all tokens deserve creator fees because many tokens achieve success without a team or project leadership, thereby disproportionately rewarding token developers.
Creator fees are subject to change. Not every token deserves a creator fee.
Now, users have the ability to decide if a token is truly worth creator fees, or if it makes more sense to reward merchants who participate in the token.
Cashback Coins are live now. To understand more 👇 pic.twitter.com/UbYoAbQ1Ya
— Pump.fun (@Pumpfun) February 17, 2026
“Now, traders can choose to participate with the tokens they most agree with, ultimately letting the market decide who gets rewarded and where the bar is set.”
Pump.fun said coin creators must choose between creator fees or a merchant refund model before launch. Once selected, the decision is irreversible.
Terminal, a crypto trading platform built into Pump.fun, said that Cashback coins are generated on every trade generated and only through the terminal.
Analysts at onchain analytics firm Santiment said on Friday that memecoins are showing signs of potential downside.
“It's a common capital sign of collective acceptance of the ‘end of the meme era,'” said Sentiment, adding that it's often “the opposite time” to start paying attention when a sector of the market completely shuts down.
Pump.fun fees fell last year
Pamp.fun's new rewards feature recorded an estimated 31.8 million payouts in January, representing a 75.6% decrease from the $148.1 million posted in January 2025 – the platform's best performance to date.
Pump.fun has brought in $15.6 million so far in February, putting it on track to fall short of January's total.
The change in reward model follows months of criticism that a small number of merchants are profitable on Pump.fun and most retailers are making losses.
According to data from Dune Analytics, out of 58.7 million crypto wallets that interacted with Pamp.fun, only 4.76 million won between $1,000 and $10,000, while 969,780 wallets posted winnings between $10,000 and $100,000.
No fewer than 13,700 Pump.fun wallets have reached millionaire status on the platform.
The new feature was well-received by many in the Pamp.fun community, while others, such as X user Quoos, thought the reward model could reduce incentives for developers to launch new coins:
“Therefore, there are less reasons for devs to push coins longer, because the most profitable times are when coins are still on PF and graduated when there is more volume.”
Coinbase's Base offers creator rewards and shuts it down.
While Pump.fun has changed its rewards model, others have shut down their rewards programs entirely.
On February 10, Coinbase's Base app sunsetted its Creator Rewards program as part of a strategic shift to focus entirely on marketable assets.
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The Creator Rewards program was launched in July and was designed to make the base where activity translates into revenue, Coinbase's Ethereum Layer-2, a more social ecosystem.
According to the Base App X account, it has paid between 450,000 and 17,000 creators over the past seven months, with creators earning an average of $26.
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