Pump.fun’s native token, PUMP, has bucked the market-wide downturn this week, rising by 17% as the protocol leverages platform fees to repurchase tokens.

The buybacks are designed to support holders by reducing circulating supply and absorbing sell pressure, a model increasingly common across crypto projects.

At the time of publishing, PUMP is trading at $0.0035, about 40% higher than a month ago but still down 50% from its July debut, when it quickly fell from $0.007 to $0.0024 in just 10 days.

The sharp post-launch decline reflected the fading of initial hype, but recent momentum suggests buybacks are helping stabilize the token’s market.

The driver is Pump.fun’s revenue engine. The platform earns fees on every token created through its service, a model that has generated $734 million over the past year, with volumes peaking in January during the boom in celebrity-driven meme coins like TRUMP and MELANIA, along with thousands of copycat tokens that followed.

Since inception, more than 12.5 million tokens have been launched and 23 million wallets have interacted with the site, establishing a strong user base.

Those flows have translated into meaningful token support: Pump.fun has directed $59 million toward buybacks, according to Dune dashboards, helping to underpin PUMP’s rebound.

The timing could be fortuitous. Autumn has historically been a stronger season for digital assets after the summer lull, suggesting conditions could align for further upside.

Still, PUMP remains far from its launch highs, and its trajectory will depend on whether fee revenue can remain consistent in a slowing market.

Meanwhile, the majors remain under pressure: bitcoin is trading at $108,500 and ether at $4,337, both down between 6% and 7% this week.