- Raydium launched LaunchLab to counter pump.fun’s move to create its own AMM, breaking their informal partnership.
- Pump.fun-driven meme coins made up 41% of Raydium’s swap fee revenue, but migration to a new AMM could hit Raydium’s earnings.
- LaunchLab offers flexible bonding curves and liquidity tools, aiming to attract teams who want a simpler way to launch tokens.
Raydium’s latest move, the launch of its new platform LaunchLab, comes just weeks after rumors swirled about pump.fun—the popular Solana-based memecoin launchpad—working on its own automated market maker (AMM). That decision effectively cut an informal partnership between pump.fun and Raydium, setting the stage for a new wave of competition.
LaunchLab: Raydium’s Answer to Pump.fun’s Independence
LaunchLab isn’t just another AMM—it brings a set of unique bonding curves (linear, exponential, and logarithmic) designed to match token demand with price more dynamically. The platform also allows third-party UIs to set their own fees, making it more flexible for developers.
Previously, pump.fun tokens that hit a $69,000 market cap had a portion of liquidity deposited into a Raydium trading pool and then burned. Over the past month, pump.fun-driven meme coins accounted for a massive 41% of Raydium’s swap fee revenue, per Blockworks Research. However, Raydium’s native token took a 25% nosedive in February, as investors anticipated a revenue decline once pump.fun started migrating its liquidity to its own AMM.
Raydium’s War Chest and Strategic Play
Despite the hit, Raydium still holds a hefty $168 million on its balance sheet, giving it the financial muscle to move fast. With pump.fun’s AMM circulating in the Solana rumor mill for a while, Raydium decided to act, pivoting towards LaunchLab as a direct response.
Anonymous Raydium core contributor “Infra” noted that development on LaunchLab actually started “several months ago” but was kept on the back burner to avoid stepping on toes. That approach changed when pump.fun’s AMM plans surfaced.
Raydium believes pump.fun’s success was partly due to leveraging its infrastructure, Infra stated. However, rather than positioning LaunchLab as a direct competitor, Raydium sees it as an alternative—a tool for teams who don’t want to build from scratch and for users who might still prefer Raydium’s AMM v4 for liquidity migrations.
What Makes LaunchLab Stand Out?
Beyond its bonding curves and customizable fees, LaunchLab supports multiple quote tokens beyond SOL and integrates with Raydium’s liquidity provider locker. This locker allows token issuers to lock swap fees permanently, adding another layer of sustainability for projects.
According to Infra, LaunchLab is just the beginning—Raydium is rolling out a full “suite of tools” aimed at streamlining token creation and liquidity management.
With pump.fun branching out and Raydium doubling down on its own ecosystem, the battle for dominance in Solana’s memecoin-fueled DeFi space is heating up. One thing’s certain: the days of silent partnerships are over.
