Project Ascend is an initiative launched on September 2, 2025, by the Solana-based memecoin creation platform Pump.fun. ^[4] The project, which also operates under the name "Creator Capital Market on Pump.Fun" via its official website, pags.fm, aims to establish the platform as a central hub for successful and sustainable crypto projects by introducing a new dynamic fee structure and community governance features designed to significantly increase earnings for token creators. ^{[2] [1] [4] [5]}

Overview

Project Ascend was introduced as a series of platform updates intended to foster long-term value and sustainability for tokens launched on Pump.fun. ^[5] The initiative's stated goal is to expand the platform's ecosystem by a factor of 100 by making newly created coins more aligned with their communities and providing better economic incentives for serious developers. ^[4] The initiative's public-facing platform, pags.fm, provides a direct interface for creators to launch tokens and assign royalty fees to a designated wallet, embodying the project's goal of creating a "creator capital market." ^{[4] [2]}

The project was conceived in response to market dynamics and the platform's desire to attract higher-quality projects with the potential for longevity. Previously, creators faced challenges as the existing fee system often failed to generate sufficient capital to cover essential development costs, such as marketing campaigns and exchange listing fees. ^{[5] [4]} According to Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen, the crypto space requires more "success cases" with lasting value to achieve significant growth, and Project Ascend is designed to create an environment where such projects can thrive. ^[1]

The initiative's core components are "Dynamic Fees V1," a tiered fee system that rewards successful projects with lower fees as they grow, and a streamlined "Community Takeover" (CTO) process that empowers active community members to assume control of projects from inactive creators. By restructuring creator incentives and improving community governance, Pump.fun aims to attract talent from mainstream fields like streaming and startups, positioning itself as the premier launchpad on the Solana network. ^[5] The announcement of the project was met with a positive market response, signaling investor confidence in the initiative's potential to enhance the platform's value proposition. ^{[1] [5]}

History

Project Ascend was officially unveiled on September 2, 2025, through a post on the social media platform X. The announcement framed the initiative as a series of updates designed to "100x the pump fun ecosystem by making coins more sustainable & aligned with their communities." ^[4]

Technology and Features

Project Ascend introduced two primary features to the Pump.fun platform, both aimed at improving the economic model for creators and the governance structure for communities.

Dynamic Fees V1

Dynamic Fees V1 is a tiered, market cap-based pricing system implemented on Pump.fun's decentralized exchange, PumpSwap. The mechanism adjusts the creator fees levied on a token's trades based on its market capitalization. ^[5]

How It Works

The system is designed with an inverse relationship between market cap and creator fees: as a token becomes more successful and its market cap increases, the creator fee percentage decreases. Conversely, tokens at a lower market cap are subject to a higher creator fee. This structure is intended to provide new projects with more substantial initial funding while reducing the economic friction for larger, more established tokens. The dynamic fee structure applies to all tokens on PumpSwap, including those launched before the introduction of Project Ascend. The platform confirmed that protocol fees and autocompounding rates for liquidity providers would remain unchanged, ensuring stability for traders and liquidity providers. ^{[1] [4]}

Strategic Objectives

• Maximize Early-Stage Funding: Higher fees at lower market caps provide new projects with substantial initial capital, which can be used for marketing, exchange listings, and operational expenses. This addresses a key pain point where promising projects failed due to a lack of early funding. ^[4]
• Promote Scalability: As a project grows, the reduced fee burden makes it more economically viable and attractive for further investment, allowing it to scale more effectively.
• Attract Large Investors: The system addresses the problem of high, flat-rate fees, which can deter large investors ("whales") from entering positions since they would be at an immediate, significant loss. Co-founder Alon Cohen noted that traditional high fees create "really low ceilings on these coins." ^[1]

Streamlined Community Takeover (CTO)

The Community Takeover (CTO) process is a governance feature that allows a token's community to redirect creator fees away from the original, often inactive, deployer to new, active leadership. This mechanism is intended to salvage promising projects that have been abandoned by their initial creators but retain a dedicated community willing to continue development and marketing. ^[4]

As part of Project Ascend, Pump.fun significantly accelerated the processing time for CTO applications. The approval period was reduced from several days to just a few hours, making the process ten times faster. This enhancement empowers communities to take control of projects swiftly and ensures that creator fees are directed to individuals or teams who are actively contributing to the token's growth and success, thereby reducing the risk of failed or short-lived projects. ^{[1] [4] [5]}

ASCEND Token

In addition to being an initiative, Project Ascend has its own native token, ASCEND, which was launched on the Solana blockchain as part of the project's rollout. The token itself was created using the platform it promotes, with the description "Creator Capital Market on pump.fun" and creator fees directed to the project's official Twitter account, @pagsapp. ^[2]

Tokenomics and Market Data

The ASCEND token was launched with a total supply of approximately 1 billion tokens. As of September 2025, its circulating supply had not been officially reported by major data aggregators, making a precise market capitalization unavailable. The token's contract address on the Solana network is dJhBorriSsJwkWKTFGNDnvmQm7CG81WksStqaYFepag. ^[3]

ASCEND tokens are traded on decentralized exchanges within the Solana ecosystem. The primary trading venue is PumpSwap, where the ASCEND/SOL pair is the most active. Following its launch, the token experienced significant volatility. It reached an all-time high of $0.0001208 on September 5, 2025, just three days after the project's announcement. It later established an all-time low of $0.00002495 on September 7, 2025. ^[3]

Team

The primary figure associated with the public rollout and vision of Project Ascend is Alon Cohen, the co-founder of Pump.fun. Cohen articulated the strategic rationale behind the initiative, emphasizing its role in attracting serious, long-term project creators to the Solana ecosystem.

He positioned Project Ascend as a necessary step to generate more valuable and lasting crypto projects, which he believes is essential for the broader market to achieve substantial growth. ^[1]