Pump.fun acquires Solana wallet tracker Kolscan to “gamify” trading ahead of ICO

Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun has acquired wallet-tracking platform Kolscan in its first-ever buyout, ahead of its upcoming ICO.

According to a July 11 announcement, Pump.fun has already begun integrating Kolscan’s features into its platform, describing the acquisition as a move that would “enable better products for both Kolscan and Pump.fun users” while introducing “totally new experiences” to the onchain trading space.

Kolscan is a real-time analytics tool that tracks the activity of top onchain traders, also referred to as key opinion leaders (KOLs). It offers wallet-level insights into token holdings, live transactions, and trading performance.

One of its central features is a dynamic leaderboard ranking traders based on their profit and loss performance, allowing users to monitor and compare the strategies of influential traders in the Solana ecosystem.

Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen has confirmed that Kolscan will remain free to use, and the platform has planned a series of improvements to enhance data accuracy, speed up trade updates, and introduce new tools for tracking and copying top-performing strategies.

Cohen said the acquisition aligns with his belief that “onchain trading is a social sport,” where users not only speculate but also trade alongside friends and compare performance.

According to Cohen, products that “provide social insights/tools and gamify the trading experience” are key to Pump.fun’s continued growth.

Previously, the token deployer had introduced the livestreaming feature, which was temporarily suspended and later relaunched with moderation systems in place after users began abusing the tool to broadcast harmful and violent content.

Pump.fun’s move to acquire Kolscan also comes as the platform faces mounting pressure to stay ahead of the competition. After dominating the Solana memecoin scene earlier this year, its market share has slipped below 60% and revenue has also declined, while rivals like LetsBonk continue to gain traction. 

The integration of Kolscan may help Pump.fun reassert its edge by adding utility and transparency that go beyond simple token deployment.

Meanwhile, the Kolscan acquisition comes just ahead of Pump.fun’s highly anticipated ICO and can be seen as a strategic move to bolster investor confidence by demonstrating the platform’s commitment to expanding its ecosystem and enhancing user experience through social and data-driven features.

As previously reported by crypto.news, the ICO will offer 15% of the total PUMP token supply, equivalent to 150 billion tokens, at a price of $0.004 each. An additional 18% has already been sold to institutional investors under the same terms.