Not financial advice. This article is for informational purposes only and does not endorse or recommend any token. Most new meme coins lose most or all of their value.
Solana’s biggest meme-coin launchpad quietly rewrote parts of its on-chain programs this month. Pump.fun’s public docs, updated Oct. 7–13, describe new v3/v2 trade instructions, protocol and creator fees that accrue on the curve or pool until someone “sweeps” them, multi-hop swaps, and the option to launch a coin paired against another pump.fun coin instead of SOL or USDC. For traders, that means more complex routes, and more ways for a token’s numbers to look like something they’re not. Below we explain the changes, then go through the checks that matter on any launchpad: mint authority, freeze authority, Token-2022 extensions, and where the liquidity sits.
What pump.fun changed
According to commits to pump.fun’s public docs repository:
- v3/v2 trade instructions were added on Oct. 7, and the pump SDK moved to version 4.0.0 on Oct. 8.
- Fees are held until swept. Protocol and creator fees now build up on the bonding curve or pool until someone sweeps them. Because of this, the docs say
virtual_quote_reservescan be negative (effective reserves are the vault balance plus the virtual reserves). Don’t read the raw vault balance as liquidity. - Synthetic migration: the buy that completes a v3 curve has no maximum size.
- Multi-hop swaps: a route like SOL → coin A → coin B can run in one instruction.
- Pump coins as quote: a new coin can be paired against an existing pump.fun coin instead of SOL or USDC. The Oct. 13 update enabled “depth 2” quotes, so the quote coin can itself be quoted in another pump coin.
An Oct. 8 TokenPost report described custom pairs as limited to one level of depth. That was accurate before the Oct. 13 docs update raised the limit.
Why custom pairs matter for risk
If coin B is paired against coin A, buying B means buying A first. You take on both tokens’ price impact and both tokens’ risk. If A collapses, B’s liquidity goes with it. Before buying, check what a coin is actually paired against.
The 6 checks
1. Mint authority
It should be revoked (null). If it’s live, someone can mint more supply at any time and dilute every holder (Solana docs).
2. Freeze authority
It should be null. A live freeze authority can freeze your token account so you can’t sell, which is the classic Solana honeypot.
3. Token-2022: permanent delegate
A live permanent delegate can transfer or burn any holder’s tokens, and holders can’t revoke it. Scam tokens have used it for “burn-on-buy” traps (OAK).
4. Token-2022: transfer hooks, transfer fees, pausing
A transfer hook runs a custom program on every transfer, and that program may be upgradeable. A transfer fee can act as a hidden sell tax. Pausable or default-frozen settings can block transfers. An extension that is present but has a null authority is much less risky than one whose authority is still live.
5. Where the liquidity is
Is the token still on its bonding curve, or has it moved to a pool (PumpSwap, Raydium, Meteora)? If it’s in a pool, are the LP tokens burned or locked, and who holds them?
6. Who holds the supply, and can you sell?
Check top-holder concentration and look for dev or insider wallets in the Solscan holders tab. Simulate a sell, or test with a tiny amount, before a real buy. Token-scanner tools such as RugCheck and the token warnings in wallets and aggregators can help, but read the on-chain authorities yourself.
EVM quick parallel (Ethereum, Base)
Check for verified source code on Etherscan. Look at owner privileges: minting, blacklisting, fee setters, and proxy upgradeability. Run a honeypot sell simulation. Find the LP lock contract and its unlock date.
Activity context
DefiLlama data pulled Oct. 17, 2026 shows about $4.38 billion in 30-day volume on the pump.fun launchpad and about $10.0 billion on PumpSwap (DefiLlama). Plenty of money moves through it every day, and plenty of it is lost.
Sources
- pump.fun, pump-public-docs commit history (Oct. 7, 8 and 13, 2026)
- TokenPost, custom pairs report (Oct. 8, 2026)
- Solana docs, Tokens and Permanent Delegate extension
- OAK, Token-2022 multi-extension scam cohort
- DefiLlama, pump.fun
Not financial advice. This article is for informational purposes only and does not endorse or recommend any token. Most new meme coins lose most or all of their value.
