Pons Memecoin Launchpad Outpaces Pump.fun on Gas‑Free Robinhood Chain

Lead: Pons, a memecoin launchpad on Robinhood Chain, has been earning more daily fees than Pump.fun on Solana every day since August 29, reaching $4.89 million in fees on August 31.

Fee structure and volume

Pons charges a flat 1 % fee on every trade of tokens launched through its platform. Roughly 70 % of that fee goes to the token creator, while the protocol retains the remaining 30 %. The model has produced over $25 million in cumulative creator fees and $4 billion in total platform volume, with more than 10,000 token deployments per day.

Impact of the gas waiver

Robinhood Chain, an Arbitrum Orbit L2, offered a 90‑day gas‑free period starting July 1. During this window, users pay only the 1 % Pons fee, eliminating the small transaction costs that exist on other chains such as Solana. This cost advantage helped Pons generate $4.01 million in daily revenue on September 2, compared with roughly $78 000 earned by Solana on the same day.

PONS token performance

The PONS token rose from $0.078 on August 24 to $0.43 by September 1, a price increase of about 18,000 % since July. The market cap sits near $307 million, with roughly 710 million tokens in circulation and 29 % of the supply burned.

Uniswap’s involvement

Uniswap Labs purchased PONS tokens, stating the acquisition was for “long‑term alignment,” and launched the pools.trade DEX on Robinhood Chain on August 5 with lower fees than Pons. This creates direct competition while giving Uniswap exposure to the growth of memecoin trading on the chain.

Risks and uncertainties

• The gas‑free subsidy ends on September 29; transaction costs will then apply, potentially reducing volume and fee revenue.
• Most of the 10,000 daily token launches are low‑effort memecoins that may quickly lose value, raising concerns about wash trading and artificial volume.
• The PONS token does not currently entitle holders to a share of protocol fees, making its price driven by speculation.
• Robinhood Chain is a centralized L2, which could attract regulatory scrutiny.

Outlook

The next two months will test whether Pons can maintain its market share after the gas waiver expires and against competition from Uniswap’s pools.trade. Pump.fun on Solana remains a strong competitor with a larger ecosystem and broader liquidity options.