What Are Meme Coin Launchpads and Why Are They Popular?

Launching coins has never been easier. However, the number of crypto launchpads is high and we cannot cover all of them, but a launchpad is a place where coins get launched. Projects can get funding and speculators can find some newly minted coins. In this article we will only touch on a few and mostly on the most recent memecoin based launchpads. Here are some popular examples:

Binance Launchpad

As the name suggests, the launchpad is created by Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges.Token sales on launchpad operate on a subscription-based model. 

To participate as an early contributor, you must hold BNB ( Binance Coin) in your Binance wallet and subscribe to the sale during the designated subscription period, in most cases seven days. Token prices are predetermined and distributed on the final event, where you can either trade on Binance immediately or other open markets.

Since its launch, it has helped to raise over $200 million for over 107 crypto-startup projects.

Learn more about Binance in our tutorial.

Pump.fun

Pump.fun offers an easy-to-use meme coin launchpad built on the Solana blockchain where anyone can create and distribute their own tokens.

To create your token you just have to navigate to its platform, login using either an email address or socials like X or connect a crypto wallet like Phantom (more wallets are supported).

Once logged in you will see a section written ‘create a new token’ on the top-right corner. Click it and it will take you to a new dashboard where you indicate the name of your coin, ticker (e.g DOGE), a description which is optional, and an image of the coin. 

You can also set an initial investment paid in $SOL although it is optional. And just like that you launched your first memecoin!

To enhance the likelihood of your coin’s success, consider setting up socials like Telegram and X to build a community and increase visibility.

Also note that you can engage in buying and selling of tokens created by other creators on the launchpad. But be careful as most tokens here lack utility hence they are very volatile. 

How are Fees and Token Price Determined on Pump.fun?

Pump.fun does not charge upfront fees for token launches. However, it does impose a 1% fee on each trade (buy or sell) and the original creator of the coin receives 0.05% of all trade fees.

The price of your created token is determined by a model known as the bonding curve where, as more buyers invest, the token price rises while price falls when more sell. Once a token hits a market capitalization of about $69,000, it is listed on PumpSwap, the launchpad’s native DEX, a shift from the previous Raydium DEX. This event is known as ‘graduating’.

Since its inception in January 2024, Pump.fun has facilitated the creation of over 10 million tokens and has generated over $500 million in revenue.

LaunchLab

Type of launchpad: meme coin-based

Barely a month after being dropped by Pump.fun, Raydium hit back with its own launchpad, LaunchLab. Competition? Well some thought so.

Raydium debuts LaunchLab to rival memecoin maker Pump.fun

LaunchLabs is also built on the Solana network and shares some similar features with Pump.fun such as token creation, bonding curves, fees (1% on trading activities) and graduation of coins. 

The key differences are that Launchlab offers two mechanisms for token creation. The first one is the  ‘JustSendit mode’, which is similar to that of Pump.fun with the difference being that 85 SOL is the minimum requirement for a token graduation. ‘LaunchLab mode’ is the second which caters for projects that require tailored tokenomics and distribution strategies.

Also LaunchLabs has another unique feature known as Platform PDA (Program Derived Address) system which allows external launchpads to create and manage their own launch environments within its ecosystem. For instance through this they have partnered with BONK to create another, memecoin-based launchpad known as LetsBonk.fun which can also be accessed through LaunchLabs.

LaunchLabs Platform PDA feature that lets you access other meme coin launchpads

And with this, in just a month LaunchLabs and its affiliated launchpads have managed to graduate over 1000 new meme coins to the Raydium DEX and raised over 40 million in revenue.

Boop.fun

Type of launchpad: meme coin-based

Boop.fun is also another meme coin based launchpad still built on Solana. Token launch on the platform is similar to that on Pump.fun and the ‘JustSendit mode’ on LaunchLab. One key difference is that Boop.fun allows you to even launch a token termed as ‘cults’ by tagging them @beeponboop directly on X.

Also unlike the above two launchpads where all tokens are given a fair launch, here 75% of the tokens supply gets added to the bonding curve, and 5% is allocated as bonus to BOOP stakers when the token graduates while the remaining 20% is set aside for the Raydium pool (created on graduation). For a token to graduate it needs a market cap of 400 SOL which gets it a chance to receive rewards such as the daily $BOOP airdrop. 

Just less than a month old as of the time of writing, the launchpad has so far aided in the graduation of more than 700 new meme coins to Raydium and raised over 30 million in revenue.

SunPump

While Solana has dominated the meme coin launchpad arena, Tron network has also rolled out a version of its own known as SunPump. Inspired by Pump.fun, SunPump has almost similar features and working mechanisms as those in the former. Infact for a token to graduate to SunSwap V2 DEX it requires a similar amount of more than $69,000 as those on Pump.fun.

The key difference is that SunPump allows you to also launch your token through AI agent @Agent_SunGenX. Also, it charges a creation fee of approximately 20 TRX and a 1% fee for all trades.

Out of that the launchpad stands closer in revenue gathered, to Pump.fun than any other.

The post What Are Meme Coin Launchpads and Why Are They Popular? appeared first on YourCryptoLibrary.