Meme Insider
Ever wondered if meme coins could shake up the streaming world? A recent thread from Kunal Doshi, a researcher at Blockworks, dives into the buzzing conversation around creator coin models (CCM) and pits Pump.fun against streaming giant Twitch. It's eye-opening stuff, showing how blockchain is flipping the script on how creators make money.
Kunal kicks things off by highlighting the hype around CCM and runs the numbers to compare earnings on Pump.fun versus Twitch. Pump.fun isn't just nibbling at the edges—it's gunning for Twitch's core business. For those new to this, Pump.fun is a Solana-based platform where anyone can launch meme tokens easily, and creators earn from trading fees on their coins.
On Twitch, creators primarily cash in through subscriptions and ads. Subs come in tiers at $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99 per month, with Twitch splitting the revenue 50/50. Ads pay out around $3.50 per thousand impressions (CPM), and creators get 50-70% of that. In reality, small streamers might pocket just a few hundred bucks monthly, mid-tier ones $5K to $30K, and the big shots over $100K.
Pump.fun turns this model upside down. Instead of relying on subs and ads, creators rake in fees from trades on their tokens. Fees start high at about 0.95% for early-stage tokens (market caps between $88K and $300K) and drop to 0.05% as they hit $20M+. Just in one day, 9,000 wallets claimed $2.8M in fees—that's roughly $300 per creator daily, or $9K monthly if it holds up.
Diving into specifics, Kunal spotlights 10 creator coins from Pump.fun's front page. These are pulling in serious daily earnings, often matching what Twitch reserves for its elite with massive viewerships. On Twitch, six-figure months need 10K+ concurrent viewers, but Pump.fun creators are hitting similar numbers with much tinier communities.
Here's a quick look at the data he shared:
| Creator | Token MC | 24H Volume | Chat Members | Creator Fee % | 24H Creator Fees | Monthly Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bagwork | $31.8M | $33.7M | 875 | 0.05% | $16.9K | $505.5K |
| Streamer | $27.6M | $11.3M | 476 | 0.45% | $5.7K | $169.5K |
| Chillhouse | $9.7M | $497.8K | 4500 | 0.40% | $2.0K | $59.7K |
| Mitch | $6.7M | $633.3K | 510 | 0.55% | $3.5K | $104.5K |
| Gyat | $6.3M | $1.3M | 1400 | 0.55% | $7.2K | $214.5K |
| Kind | $5.9M | $3.2M | 283 | 0.55% | $17.6K | $528.0K |
| Feed The People | $1.9M | $4.2M | 146 | 0.75% | $31.5K | $945.0K |
| Groyper | $990.7K | $1.4M | 46 | 0.80% | $11.2K | $336.0K |
| Steamuguy | $914.0K | $664.9K | 86 | 0.80% | $5.3K | $159.6K |
| Cameo | $623.6K | $3.6M | 28 | 0.85% | $30.6K | $918.0K |
From a valuation perspective, Twitch was pegged at $45B in October 2024 with $1.8B in yearly revenue, that's a 25x multiple. Pump.fun, based on August figures, is trading at a more modest 14x. But the real kicker is the incentives: Early Pump creators keep up to 80% of fees, with the platform taking more only as they scale. Twitch's flat split doesn't reward growth the same way, making Pump look like a game-changer.
Wrapping it up, Pump.fun is democratizing earnings, letting small creators grab what was once top-tier pay on Twitch. If streamers flock over—even from TikTok or YouTube—the whole creator economy could shift. Sustainability is key, though. Creators need to reinvest fees into their tokens or content to keep the momentum. Right now, it's heavy on speculation, but with more real viewers tuning in, it could explode. Props to Pump for pumping up the possibilities in the meme token space!
