Raydium's LaunchLab Boosts RAY Token 14%

Raydium, the largest decentralized exchange on Solana by trading volume, launched its new token creation platform called LaunchLab on April 16, 2025. This announcement caused the RAY token price to climb, with the price jumping approximately 8-14% and briefly touching $2.50 before experiencing a minor pullback.

The new platform allows users to create and launch tokens easily while integrating directly with Raydium’s liquidity pools. This move puts Raydium in direct competition with Pump.fun, a popular memecoin creation platform on Solana. LaunchLab offers several features aimed at making token creation more accessible and profitable for creators. Users can launch tokens for free and customize various aspects of their tokens, including supply indicators, vesting options, and Burn & Earn mechanisms.

Once a token raises 85 SOL, it automatically transitions to Raydium’s Automated Market Maker (AMM) for trading. Creators can earn up to 10% of the trading fees from their token’s pool after graduation to the main AMM. LaunchLab’s trading fees are set at 1%, with 25% of these fees allocated to buy back RAY tokens, which likely contributed to the price increase.

The launch of LaunchLab marks a shift in the relationship between Raydium and Pump.fun. What was once a strong partnership has evolved into direct competition as both platforms seek to capture market share in the growing Solana token creation space. This competitive dynamic began when Pump.fun launched PumpSwap on March 20, changing how newly created tokens are traded. Instead of migrating to Raydium, tokens now have the option to remain within the Pump.fun ecosystem.

PumpSwap has shown impressive growth since its launch. In just its first 10 days, the platform accumulated over $31.7 billion in trading volume. The Solana team has expressed support for LaunchLab, considering it an important development for the Solana DeFi ecosystem. This endorsement may help Raydium attract users to its new platform.

Ask Aime: What impact will LaunchLab have on the Solana DeFi ecosystem and how will it compete with PumpSwap?

With LaunchLab, Raydium aims to recapture some of the volume and revenue it lost when Pump.fun launched its own exchange. By offering features like free token launches, creator fee sharing, and RAY token buybacks, Raydium hopes to establish LaunchLab as the premier token creation platform on Solana. Early reports had suggested that LaunchLab would closely resemble Pump.fun but with some unique features. The 25% allocation of transaction fees to repurchase RAY tokens appears to be one of these distinguishing elements.

Pump.fun has also announced plans to launch its own native token following the success of its AMM, which could further intensify competition between the two platforms. As of April 17, 2025, LaunchLab is fully operational, with tokens already meeting the threshold required for migration to Raydium’s main AMM. The platform’s success in the coming weeks will likely have a continued impact on the RAY token price.