Launchpad platform: a new channel for Decentralization token issuance

Launchpad is a type of Decentralization platform, typically operated by blockchain projects or decentralized exchanges, aimed at helping emerging blockchain projects issue tokens to the public through Initial Decentralized Offering (IDO). These platforms provide fundraising channels for project parties while creating opportunities for investors to participate in early quality projects. This article mainly introduces Launchpad platforms focused on meme coin launches, which have several significant characteristics compared to traditional Launchpads: the market capitalization of listed tokens is lower, nearly 100% circulation is achieved, most tokens belong to the meme coin category, and the issuance threshold for users is lower, thus having a higher potential wealth effect.

The main role of the Launchpad

1. Project fundraising: Providing financing channels for emerging blockchain projects by raising funds needed for project development and marketing through the sale of tokens to the community.

2. Token distribution: Assist the project party in distributing the tokens to early investors, usually launching at a lower market value to attract user participation.

3. Traffic Acquisition: Utilizing popular events or IPs is an important means for the current Launchpad platform to attract attention, which can quickly gain a large amount of focus.

4. Creating wealth effects: Due to the relatively low initial market value of the on-chain Token, once it gains market recognition or future listing on mainstream trading platforms, early participants may achieve substantial returns, thereby spreading rapidly within the community.

Since a certain platform achieved great success last year, the Launchpad track has become the first choice for many development teams and even public chain startups. However, most attempts ultimately end in failure, and the consensus around meme coins in the market remains concentrated on a few platforms.

In addition to market leaders, the well-established meme coin BONK in the Solana ecosystem has also launched its own Launchpad platform, under which several meme coins have seen their market cap exceed 10 million USD, showing a good start.

On the other hand, the leading project of the AI Agent Launchpad recently launched new participation methods and activities. Although the tokens under its umbrella have shown mixed performance, its mother coin doubled in price within a week, indicating that the launch of new activities seems to have achieved certain results.

Although these Launchpad platforms belong to the same category, they each have different functions and characteristics. Next, we will delve into the unique aspects of these platforms and the token projects worth paying attention to.

Comparison of Three Launchpad Platforms

platform A

As the origin of the meme coin craze in the second half of 2024, this platform can generate over $7 million in revenue daily at its peak. Even in the current cooling of meme popularity, it still maintains a daily revenue level of about $1.5 million. Since its launch, the platform has generated a total of over $600 million in revenue, making it a veritable money printer in the cryptocurrency space.

The platform's revenue is mainly denominated in SOL. Unlike other projects in the Solana ecosystem, the platform has chosen not to stake or operate nodes with the earned SOL, but instead continues to sell the SOL in hand for USDC. Since 2025, they have sold a total of SOL tokens worth $317 million, an astounding scale.

This approach is not ideal in terms of perception, and coupled with some previous controversial events, despite the platform's strong profitability in the Solana ecosystem, it has failed to gain significant support from the foundation.

In terms of token issuance, the platform has become the preferred entry point for meme coin issuance. Various themed tokens can be seen on the platform, including animals, homophones, news events, AI, etc., with almost any concept you can think of being able to be made into a meme coin. Therefore, the platform does not specifically emphasize any particular type of token but provides issuance channels for various meme coins.

platform B

In comparison, this platform appears to be more orthodox in its political stance. The main reason is that its underlying Token, BONK, is one of the most representative meme coins on the Solana chain and one of the earliest meme coins to generate wealth effects, having been deeply rooted in the Solana ecosystem for over four years. In addition to recently gaining the attention of high-level individuals, BONK has been visible in various offline events related to Solana in the past. Compared to certain platforms that continuously sell off their Tokens, BONK is clearly more popular.

In terms of platform mechanism, this platform behaves more selflessly. Its revenue comes from 1% of transaction fees, and these funds are used for:

• Platform operation and growth
• Support validators, promote DeFi development and protect the network
• Buy back and destroy BONK Tokens (related data dashboard will be launched soon)

In addition, the platform has also collaborated with a certain DEX's LaunchLab, demonstrating its sincerity towards the Solana ecosystem.

Currently, the platform's highest market cap token is Hosico, reaching 38 million USD. This token is inspired by a Scottish Fold cat named "Hosico." Hosico is a golden short-haired cat born on August 4, 2014, and has nearly 2 million followers on social media due to its round face, big eyes, and cute appearance, making it a globally recognized internet-famous cat.

The other two tokens worth noting are the platform's namesake Token and Grassiot.

The token of the same name was initially regarded as the official platform coin representative, and on the first day of its launch on the platform, its market value reached a peak of 30 million USD. However, with the emergence of various new tokens distracting investors' attention, its price has continued to decline, and its current market value is only 4 million USD.

Grassiot's rise to fame is attributed to a series of operations by the founder of BONK, including buying, destroying, and then repurchasing the Token. In short, this Token gained a price increase due to the founder's attention. However, the founder later clarified that his purchase of the Token was merely out of support, that he had no insider information, and that he was not a member of the development team. He also publicly stated that he simultaneously held Hosico and the platform's namesake Token and disclosed the amount purchased. After this information was made public, Grassiot's market value dropped from a peak of $13 million to its current approximately $4.3 million.

platform C

This is an AI Agent Launchpad originally built on the Base chain, which later expanded to the Solana chain. Its business model is relatively simple; users need to consume platform tokens to create and trade tokens on the platform. However, with the decline of the AI boom, the number of tokens successfully issued on the platform daily has dropped from at least 100 to now fewer than 10, showing a significant gap.

To address this situation, the platform has recently launched a major update:

Points System: This is an important mechanism for the platform to encourage user participation, used for accessing pre-TGE token allocation, especially the "Large AI Agent Launch". These points directly affect users' eligibility and rights to participate on the launch platform.

The AI agent is launched with a fully diluted market value of 336,000 platform Tokens (approximately 232.58k USD), and all users gain equal early access rights through point commitments. The allocation is determined after a 24-hour point bidding period, and if the funding target is not met, no Tokens will be minted, and all platform Tokens and points will be fully refunded.

Ways to earn points:

• Trading points: Earned by trading specific Tokens.
• Holding points: Earn by holding platform tokens.
• Content creation points: Earn points by creating content related to the platform (such as social media posts).
• Staking Points: Earn by staking specific Tokens

Participation method:

1. Staking Highlights:

   • Participate using points commitment to obtain up to 0.5% of the total supply in Token allocation.
   • The final allocation depends on the ratio of the points you committed to the total committed points.
   • Over-commitment can increase the chance of obtaining the maximum allocation.
   • If the launch is successful, only the allocated points will be destroyed, and the remaining points will be refunded.

2. Invest in platform Token:

   • Invest up to 566 platform Tokens to ensure maximum allocation.
   • If participation exceeds expectations, the allocation will be diluted, and excess platform tokens will be refunded.

3. Claim Token:

   • After successful launch, go to the Agent page to claim the purchased Token.
   • If the startup fails, all points and platform tokens will be fully refunded.

In general, the platform is building a smaller but more loyal Launchpad, similar to the points-based new token issuance activities recently launched by some trading platforms, essentially hoping that users can participate more in the ecosystem.

If you are optimistic about the prospects of this points system, there are three participation methods worth considering:

1. Directly purchase platform tokens to go long
2. Directly purchase staked Tokens to go long
3. Participate in the points activity

The first two methods have simple logic, and the relevant tokens have recently seen significant increases, making them the biggest beneficiaries of the event. To participate in the event, you first need to accumulate points, which can be achieved by holding platform tokens. If you are concerned that the platform tokens may decline in the future, you can short the same amount of tokens on centralized exchanges as a hedge. The advantage of this strategy is that it ensures participation in the event without incurring losses due to potential declines, and the design of the event will not lead to losses, with the worst-case scenario being that the earnings are not as expected. The downside is that it requires additional funds to short, which will lower the overall capital utilization.

Summary

In summary, these three Launchpad platforms each have their advantages and concerns:

Platform A has consolidated its position as a traffic entry point with a strong operational model, but frequent "cash-outs" and negative events have also raised doubts; Platform B has endeared itself to the ecosystem by deeply engaging with the community and offering low-fee revenue sharing, but the distraction between platform coins and other tokens may affect long-term participation; Platform C's points system and AI Agent layout have opened up new avenues with plenty of innovation, but it has yet to demonstrate stable issuance capability, and whether user enthusiasm can be sustained remains to be seen.

Looking to the future, the next wave of enthusiasm in the Launchpad sector will depend on "value realization" and "community resilience": Can the platform balance short-term excitement and long-term ecological development through mechanism design? Can project teams continue to provide real value rather than just relying on flashy narratives? When the hot money retreats, which model will be more sustainable will become a key metric for market evaluation.

For researchers and participants, in addition to focusing on platform traffic and token price fluctuations, it is essential to deeply analyze the core risks of various mechanisms and their potential for future upgrades in order to find truly worthwhile long-term investment projects in a highly competitive market.