Pump.fun Acquires Padre Trading Terminal as Memecoin Market Cools

Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has purchased multichain trading terminal Padre in its second acquisition of 2025. The company announced the deal on Friday, October 24, without revealing the purchase price.

This move shows Pump.fun’s strategy to control more of the memecoin trading process, from launching tokens to providing tools for trading them. However, the acquisition left Padre’s token holders facing significant losses.

What Padre Brings to the Table

Padre is a trading platform that works across multiple blockchains, including Solana, Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base. The terminal gives traders tools to buy and sell memecoins quickly, with features like cashback rewards, competitive fees, and dedicated support for active traders.

According to Dune Analytics, Padre controls about 5% of the trading bot market on Solana. While this is small compared to market leader Axiom, Padre has built a reputation for reliable performance and user-friendly design.

Source: @pumpdotfun

Pump.fun praised Padre’s team for their experience in crypto and focus on creating products that traders actually want to use. The platform will continue operating across all its current blockchains while receiving upgrades to improve speed, data quality, and trading incentives.

Why Pump.fun Made This Move

Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen explained that trading terminals capture most of the volume in the crypto ecosystem. By owning a terminal, Pump.fun can better serve both casual memecoin creators and serious traders.

The acquisition follows Pump.fun’s earlier purchase of Kolscan, announced on July 10, 2025. Kolscan is a wallet-tracking tool that lets users monitor top traders and copy their strategies. Together, these acquisitions give Pump.fun control over launching tokens, trading them, and tracking successful traders.

This strategy mirrors how Pump.fun launched PumpSwap in March 2025, which replaced Raydium as the main exchange for tokens created on its platform.

Market Challenges Drive Expansion

The timing of this acquisition reflects the struggles facing the memecoin market. Pump.fun’s market share has dropped from about 75% earlier in 2025 to roughly 44% today, according to Jupiter data.

The platform’s revenue tells an even more concerning story. In July 2025, monthly revenue fell below $25 million, representing an 80% decline from the January peak. While revenue recovered somewhat in August and September, it remains far below previous levels.

The broader memecoin market has also contracted sharply. Total memecoin market capitalization has fallen more than 21% over the past 30 days. The October 10 market crash hit the sector particularly hard, triggering massive liquidations of leveraged trading positions.

By acquiring Padre, Pump.fun aims to capture more trading activity and revenue even as overall market volumes decline.

Token Winners and Losers

The market reacted very differently to the two tokens involved in this deal.

Pump.fun’s PUMP token jumped 9% immediately after the announcement and gained 13% over the week. The token recovered to $0.004, erasing losses from the October 10 crash. Two large investors, or “whales,” drove much of this activity. One withdrew $2 million in USDC from Kraken to buy 517.97 million PUMP tokens. Another opened a $3 million leveraged long position on Hyperliquid.

However, Padre’s PADRE token crashed 78-80% within hours of the announcement. Pump.fun stated clearly that the PADRE token will have no utility going forward and made no future plans for it.

Many Padre token holders expressed anger on social media, claiming the team had previously promised revenue sharing and token buybacks. Some accused the project of a “rug pull,” though the Padre application itself continues operating normally under Pump.fun’s ownership.

The Trading Terminal Token Dilemma

This situation highlights a recurring problem in the memecoin trading space. Many popular trading terminals have avoided launching their own tokens, likely to prevent exactly this kind of controversy.

Photon, previously the leading Solana trading terminal, announced plans for a token in July 2024. Nearly 18 months later, the token still hasn’t launched. Meanwhile, Photon’s monthly revenue has collapsed 99% from $32 million in January 2025 to just $344,000 in October 2025.

The cautious approach to tokens makes sense for trading terminals that might eventually be acquired. A token creates obligations to holders that can complicate or even prevent acquisition deals. Padre’s experience shows why: the business gets absorbed successfully while token holders are left with worthless assets.

Looking Forward: Consolidation or Competition?

Pump.fun now controls significant infrastructure across the memecoin ecosystem. It can launch tokens, provide the exchange to trade them, offer tools to track successful traders, and give professional traders advanced trading features through Padre.

This vertical integration strategy could help Pump.fun maintain its position despite competition from platforms like LetsBonk.fun. However, success isn’t guaranteed. The platform must execute well on integrating these acquisitions while the overall market remains weak.

The company also faces potential regulatory scrutiny. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning against Pump.fun in December 2024, leading the platform to block UK users. Additionally, Pump.fun faces multiple class action lawsuits in the United States filed in January 2025 in the Southern District of New York, alleging violations of securities laws.

For traders, the Padre acquisition means access to better tools directly integrated with the largest memecoin launchpad. For token investors, it serves as another reminder that utility tokens from crypto applications carry significant risks, especially around acquisition scenarios.

The Bottom Line

Pump.fun’s purchase of Padre shows how the memecoin industry is maturing through consolidation, even as overall market activity declines. The platform is betting that controlling more of the trading stack will help it weather the current downturn and emerge stronger. Time will tell whether this strategy succeeds or if competitors find different ways to capture market share.