© 2026 The DeFi Report. All Rights Reserved.
Hello readers,
Perps and Privacy solutions are all the rage in crypto right now. But bear markets are all about looking where others aren’t.
In this week’s report, we compare the consumer retail/memecoin trading sector on Solana to Hyperliquid and the Perps market.
How durable is the consumer/retail market on Solana? How sticky are users compared to Hyperliquid?
Should we be zigging when everyone else is zagging?
We explore in this week’s edition of The Watch List.
*Please note that you can click the data citation note under each chart to access the supporting dashboard for this week’s report.
The DeFi Report is powered by Galaxy: helping the world invest, build, and transform — relentlessly.
With GalaxyOne Staking, you can earn up to an estimated 6.50% in variable staking rewards with 0% platform commission through 2026*. While other platforms can charge up to 35% in commission, GalaxyOne charges 0% through the rest of the year. Other fees may apply, see terms.
Let’s go.
When compared to memecoins, Perps products:
Cater to a much larger addressable market (all asset classes).
Serve more sophisticated users (professional and retail traders).
Are less cyclical (any asset can be traded).
Perps are clearly a more serious innovation. With that said, we continue to believe that memecoins have distinct features that make them quite sticky as a product serving the consumer retail/internet culture market segment. The market may be overlooking this due to the extreme cyclicality of the asset class and user base.
With this framing, we can think about Pump vs HYPE through the lens of different trading products serving distinct and separate crypto user segments.
Pump sells asset creation, discovery, liquidity, community/social elements, and narrative upside (consumer retail). HYPE sells liquidity, leverage, speed, execution, and pure price speculation (professional and retail traders).
We like to think of memecoins as more than just speculative instruments. Instead, we think of them as packaged experiences. A trader is not only buying exposure to price; they are buying into a community. A joke. A piece of internet culture. And a view that those things catch fire.
Pump Fun is the platform that enables all of this. It lowers friction not just for trade and speculation, but also for creating the object of speculation itself.
The platform monetizes the demand-side (retail traders) while seamlessly incentivizing the supply side through a % of trading fees (on both the bonding curve and via “graduated” tokens on Pump Swap). As such, creators are incentivized to create tokens that can accrue value and trade in perpetuity.
A memecoin is not just a position; it can feel like membership in a tribe. Holders form communities, create inside jokes, defend the asset online, and recruit new participants. It sounds silly. But it’s also real.
That social layer is what makes the product sticky. This differs from NFTs in terms of barriers to entry. The size of the communities. And the fact that memecoins are more about the tribal experience (and upside) vs the “status symbol” offered by NFTs.
While the assets are speculative and volatile, the social energy persists because the product is cultural (for the terminally online) as much as it is financial.
Memecoins are inherently social products. You just have to squint a little to see it.
The trade often starts with a post, a meme, a group chat, or a creator. They spread through imitation and participation. The asset itself becomes a social object and a form of identity.
Memecoins are the perfect product to capture “internet culture” because the internet runs on symbols, humor, irony, and status games. A coin can become a living meme, and the meme itself is the product.
A memecoin does not need a discounted cash flow model. It just needs attention, distribution, liquidity, and belief. This makes it a perfect product for the consumer retail user.
Memecoins are optimized for “dopamine hits.” They trade continuously while inviting open-ended upside fantasies and online interaction. There are zero barriers to entry.
Traders are not just buying a view; they are buying convexity. If attention compounds, the price can move higher and faster than almost any other crypto asset. This incentivizes users “work” for the token.
The market perception seems to be that memecoins “burst onto the scene” last cycle on Solana. This is not the case. Rather, memecoins have been around since 2015. As shown in the chart, their popularity is growing.
With this backdrop, let’s now compare PUMP to HYPE across financials, fundamentals, token economics, and valuation.
The numbers may surprise you…
Upgrade to finish reading the report.
Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.
Social Experience