Before Pump.fun, there was NFTperp. The assets have changed. The idea of trading conviction without owning the underlying asset has not.
Perpetual futures for NFT collection floor prices. Long or short a collection without buying the NFT.
A virtual automated market maker let traders take leveraged exposure to a collection’s floor price. The idea separated the view on price from ownership of the collectible.
Alon Cohen goes on to cofound Pump.fun, simplifying how memecoins are created and traded.
Pump.fun made token creation accessible on Solana. In his March 25, 2025 Bankless interview, Alon discussed his earlier involvement with NFTperp.
From NFT floors to memecoin markets. The perpetual concept, reimagined for a new generation.
PerpsFun adapts the concept independently: Pump.fun markets, SOL-funded accounts, isolated margin, and automatic exit monitoring. Every market must pass liquidity, age, and price-freshness checks before it can be traded.
In his March 25, 2025 Bankless interview, Alon describes being deeply involved with NFTperp, an NFT futures exchange on Arbitrum, before leaving that role and experimenting with his future Pump.fun cofounders.
The relevant passage starts at 04:28 in the publisher's transcript. It documents his past involvement; it does not imply any involvement in, endorsement of, or connection to PerpsFun.
NFTperp discussion 04:28–05:45 · Full episode 1:23:02
NFTperp brought perpetual futures to NFT collection floor prices. Rather than paying for a whole NFT and holding it, traders could express a bullish or bearish view on the collection's price through a leveraged position.
It was a different way to trade the culture: price exposure without the collectible. That distinction is the concept PerpsFun draws from—not the original team, protocol, or branding.
PerpsFun explores that concept with Pump.fun memecoins on Solana instead of NFT floors on Arbitrum. It pairs real market discovery with SOL-funded accounts and isolated-margin positions, with strict liquidity and price-freshness checks before any market is tradeable.
The historical connection is inspiration, not a partnership. Alon Cohen is not presented as a founder, advisor, or backer of this project.
NFT collection floor
Price exposure without the NFT
Pump.fun token price
Paper exposure without the token
Original episode and timestamped transcript. March 25, 2025.
Source note: the former NFTperp website no longer reliably serves the original project material. We do not link to that repurposed domain as official documentation. The Bankless interview is the primary source for Alon's involvement and the transition described here.
NFTperp was for NFTs. PerpsFun is for Pump.fun.
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