Raydium (RAY) Launches Meme Coin Launchpad LaunchLab to Intensify Rivalry with Pump.fun

Raydium (RAY), the largest automated market maker (AMM) decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana, is intensifying its rivalry with Pump.fun by launching LaunchLab

Solana's largest automated market maker (AMM) decentralized exchange (DEX), Raydium (RAY), is launching its own meme coin launchpad, named LaunchLab, aiming to enhance the Solana token ecosystem. The announcement comes amid heightened rivalry with Pump.fun, which is launching its own automated market maker (AMM).

As a result of the development, Raydium’s utility and governance token, RAY, soared nearly 28% on Tuesday, sharply rebounding after an 80% decline since late January.

As part of its broader strategy to streamline on-chain token launches and provide a neutral and permissionless infrastructure, LaunchLab will accept multiple quote tokens, including jitoSOL and stablecoins, offering greater flexibility compared to Pump.fun, which focuses primarily on SOL.

The platform will also introduce a variety of bonding curves—linear, exponential, and logarithmic—giving projects more options in their tokenomics. Additionally, LaunchLab integrates with Raydium’s LP lockers, aiming to permanently secure swap fees through Fee Key NFTs.

According to Infra, an anonymous core contributor at Raydium, the platform’s goal is to empower Solana’s ecosystem.

“We’re not here to compete with launchpads currently using Raydium — LaunchLab makes on-chain token launches easier for teams, offering a neutral, permissionless infra. Our goal: empower Solana’s ecosystem, not gatekeep it.”

This development comes amid concerns over Pump.fun draining liquidity from Raydium.

While Pump.fun positions itself as a launchpad, its model has raised concerns among industry experts.

Despite the stellar performance of Pump.fun in 2024, where it quickly rose to become a dominant player in Solana’s ecosystem by allowing users to create and launch meme coins, many tokens later migrated to Raydium for liquidity.

This liquidity flow, however, could be interrupted as Pump.fun prepares to shift liquidity to its own automated market maker (AMM) in the next stage of its operations.

According to Blockworks Research, Pump.fun-generated tokens made up 41% of Raydium’s swap fee revenue last month alone. However, with Pump.fun’s AMM, this revenue stream could be diminished.

Raydium currently handles over 10% of global DEX trading volume, making it the third-largest DEX by volume, behind PancakeSwap and Uniswap.

However, industry experts suggest Raydium’s counterstrategy could redefine competition in the crypto space.

Richard Galvin, Co-Founder and CEO of a digital asset fund and a former banker, stressed the importance of sustainable business models in crypto.

“If Raydium succeeds, it’s clearly great for RAY but also good for crypto. Crypto needs less extractive models. E.g. majority of RAY success feeds directly back into the crypto ecosystem via LP fees and RAY buybacks. Meanwhile, Pump.fun ‘success’ gets sent to Kraken and dumped on the market for cash.”