Raydium is a leading DEX on Solana, while Pump Fun is the largest launchpad. Interestingly, despite operating in different sectors, the two are now clashing, each vying for greater revenue.

First, Pump Fun introduced PumpSwap, which has recently stabilized at a daily trading volume of 400 million, approaching Raydium’s 600 million. Raydium’s team even pointed out that Pump Fun contributed a staggering 41% of its AMM revenue over the past month. However, after Pump Fun built its own PumpSwap, Raydium’s traffic plummeted, forcing it to launch LaunchLab to “regain liquidity dominance.”

So, what exactly are the differences between LaunchLab and Pump Fun? And which projects deserve attention? Let WOO X Research break it down for you.

LaunchLab Basics

LaunchLab, introduced by Raydium, is essentially a “no-code token creation tool + automatic liquidity migration service.” It offers two main modes:

• JustSendIt Mode: Allows users to create a token with one click, requiring a default raise of 85 SOL. Upon successful fundraising, the token is automatically migrated to Raydium’s AMM, and the LP tokens are burned to lock liquidity.
• LaunchLab Pro Mode: Customizable total supply, minimum raise (as low as 30 SOL), bonding curve slope, vesting conditions, and optional AMM profit-sharing (up to 10% of trading fees can be returned to the project team).

In terms of fees, Raydium charges a flat 1% base fee, distributed as: 50% to the “Community Pool”, 25% for $RAY buybacks, 25% for infrastructure and operational funds.

LaunchLab also allows third-party interfaces to integrate its backend services and build their own token launch frontends. The most notable example is cook.meme.

cook.meme is the first platform to use LaunchLab’s contracts while creating its own UX frontend. It’s a meme token launchpad that boasts zero fees, instant trading, and a clean UI. Its launch quickly attracted developers, positioning it as a UI clone of Pump Fun but with Raydium’s liquidity underneath.

Raydium’s open model isn’t just about redirecting traffic—it’s about replicating Pump Fun’s strategy of leveraging community frontends to build content and ecosystem flywheels.

LaunchLab V.S Pump Fun

Key Projects

With the launch of LaunchLab, the most direct beneficiary is undoubtedly $RAY (which receives 25% of the fees through buybacks). After LaunchLab was announced, the price of $RAY increased by approximately 8%.

If LaunchLab can sustain its momentum, the strength of $RAY’s buybacks will continue to increase. When demand exceeds supply, there is an opportunity for the price to rise. The lifespan of a LaunchPad depends on how many “golden dogs” (i.e., high-performing tokens) it can produce. When the platform continues to generate wealth-creation effects, users’ assets naturally concentrate on that platform. Once there is asset concentration, the probability of creating a “golden dog” also increases, eventually forming a positive flywheel effect.

Therefore, the first step of this flywheel is to have a golden dog. Unfortunately, within 24 hours of LaunchLab going live, only the graduating token $TIME had a market cap exceeding $1 million. Other tokens like $ARUA and $Gaydium saw their market caps surge briefly after launch, but in the end, the market collectively decided to push up only a single token’s value.

So, what are the respective narratives for $TIME, $ARUA, and $Gaydium?

As mentioned above, Raydium allows third parties to connect to their routing infrastructure to build platforms and issue tokens. Currently, Raydium, Cook.meme, and Pump Fun Robinhood are the three platforms collaborating in this way.

$TIME is the first meme coin created by Cook.meme. On the other hand, $ARUA is a token issued directly by Raydium itself — although it was deployed earlier than $TIME, it was launched later. As for $Gaydium, aside from the pun in its name, it was notable because a Raydium developer briefly added the contract address for $Gaydium to Raydium’s GitHub. However, it was deleted in less than an hour, which also caused the token to crash in value.

$TIME Stats:

• Current Market Cap: $6M
• Peak Market Cap: $8.5M
• 24H Trading Volume: $30.2M
• Holders: 7,600

Conclusion

Raydium’s LaunchLab may seem like a “delayed counterattack,” but its design systematically addresses Pump Fun’s strengths. It offers customizable token launches and an open-frontend strategy (exemplified by cook.meme), aiming to bring traffic, fees, and narratives back to Raydium’s ecosystem.

However, whether LaunchLab can truly create wealth and reignite a meme frenzy hinges on three factors:

• Can it produce breakout projects?
• Are the fee and liquidity structures retail-friendly?
• Can the ecosystem quickly aggregate frontend tools and achieve network effects?

Right now, all three factors need work. But with LaunchLab less than a month old, declaring it a failure would be premature. Crypto moves fast—the next 100x meme might just emerge from LaunchLab. Let’s wait and see.

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