Project Overview

Chapter 1: Why I Built Falcon

Falcon started as one of those side projects that spiraled into something bigger than I expected. At first, I was just curious to see if I could build a real-time token sniping and trading bot for Pump.fun on Solana. I didn’t want to rely on janky Telegram bots or third-party dashboards. I wanted something clean, modern, and mine.

So I built it. And pretty quickly, Falcon turned into a full-stack platform that could create tokens, monitor new ones in real-time, and trade them using configurable strategies. I added a slick dashboard, a UI for manual trades, analytics, and wallet controls. It was never about launching a business, it was about pushing myself to see what I could build.

Chapter 2: What Falcon Actually Does

Falcon combines token creation, automated sniping, and manual trading into a single app. Built on top of the Solana ecosystem and tightly integrated with Pump.fun, it allows you to:

• Create new tokens directly from the UI
• Auto-sell after creation if desired
• Monitor new tokens launching in real time
• Instantly snipe tokens using custom buy/sell settings
• Track trades, profits, and losses real-time
• Execute manual trades with full control
• Securely connect wallets via private key (handled client-side)

It even includes rug detection logic, emergency stop functions, and real-time trade performance metrics. Every interaction is signed locally, and the backend relies only on RPC/WebSocket + IPFS  no centralized backend.

Chapter 3: The Stack

Falcon is architected with modern, efficient tooling across the stack.

Frontend:

• Next.js (React 18), Tailwind CSS, Chakra UI
• Radix UI, Lucide React, Framer Motion, embla-carousel
• Recharts for live charts, React Hook Form for input flows

Backend & Blockchain:

• Solana via @solana/web3.js
• Token deployment and interaction with Pump.fun
• WebSocket stream parsing for live token events
• IPFS for token metadata storage
• Local state only (no DB) everything runs in-browser

Utils & Libraries:

• clsx, class-variance-authority, decimal.js, bs58, date-fns, zod, sonner
• Dev setup: TypeScript, ESLint, PostCSS, Tailwind config, Autoprefixer

Structure:

• lib/, components/, hooks/, types/, services/bot/, and more
• TradingBot.ts handles all auto-sniping logic
• TokenCreator.ts handles the entire create-to-buy flow
• WalletService.ts manages the connection and live subscriptions

Chapter 4: Why I Paused the Project

I paused Falcon not because it didn’t work it did,  but because it became too much for a solo side project and not as i intended it to do. The tech worked beautifully, the UI was clean, and the performance was decent. But it demanded constant attention. I didn’t want to maintain a bot that needed real-time monitoring, RPC tuning, or constant wallet testing, especially when I wasn’t sure I’d ever release it.

Plus, once you build something that deep, you either commit fully and polish it into a product  or you stop before it consumes all your time. I chose the second option. But I still love what I built. Falcon is proof of how far you can go on your own with the right stack and mindset.

Chapter 5: What Went Wrong (and Why It’s Not Worth It)

After extensive testing, I started running into the real-world limitations of working with third-party APIs  especially Pump.funPortal API. While Falcon could detect new tokens fast, it wasn’t fast enough for my standards.

The reality is:

• Pump.fun takes a 1% cut of every transaction
• PumpfunPortal API 0.5% too
• Add Solana network fees, Jito tips, and token taxes
• Suddenly, your profit margins shrink fast
• Worse: despite all my optimizations, the bot was still 1 to 2 seconds slower (buy only after 1~2 sec after token creation)
• I overengineered the UI and animations, which ironically added latency

Sure, I made profit. But not consistently. And definitely not enough to justify all the effort.
If I stripped the app down to just pure console commands, no UI, no scripts  I could shave off a second or ms. But even then, it wouldn’t be enough to beat top snipers who operate directly with RPC bundles or faster infrastructure.

At that point, I realized continuing development was pointless.
I could keep polishing Falcon for weeks, or I could move on. So I moved on.

Final Words

Falcon is still one of my proudest personal builds. Even if it never became a public product, I designed and engineered an entire Solana trading system  from token creation to snipe automation all without compromising security or design. I understood the edge cases, hit the limits of the ecosystem, and documented everything.