The price of Raydium’s RAY token shot up 28% after reports emerged that the Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) was planning to launch a rival meme coin platform, LaunchLab, to compete with Pump.fun.
It follows rumors that Pump.fun is testing its own automated market maker (AMM), potentially threatening the exchange’s revenue stream.
The Battle for Solana’s Meme Coin Market
According to crypto analyst Arif Kazi, Raydium previously earned about 41% of its revenue from Pump.fun-related swap fees. However, with the crypto launchpad developing an AMM, the DEX risks losing a huge part of that income.
Now, it seems Raydium has decided to match energies with the meme coin launcher, building a token-creating platform to provide an alternative ecosystem for meme cryptocurrencies. While Pump.fun’s AMM could allow it to capture more fees and reduce reliance on Raydium’s infrastructure, LaunchLab could lure users back to the DEX, especially if its rival’s AMM underperforms.
If reports are to be believed, LaunchLab won’t just be a Pump.fun clone; it will be an upgrade. According to Infra , a pseudonymous Raydium core contributor, the platform will support multiple tokens, offer dynamic bonding curves, and integrate Raydium’s liquidity lockers. These features aim to give users better flexibility and security compared to what’s already in the market.
“We’re not here to compete with launchpads currently using Raydium — LaunchLab makes on-chain token launches easier for teams,” said the developer, adding that the goal was to “empower Solana’s ecosystem, not gatekeep it.”
Market Reaction
Meanwhile, investor sentiment around the announcement sent RAY soaring 28.1% after its price moved from $1.60 to $2.05 within hours before finally stabilizing at $1.82. The token remains up 26.8% over the last seven days, significantly outperforming the broader crypto market, which rose a mere 0.8% in the same period.
However, notwithstanding the recent rally, RAY has plunged 61% in the past month, mostly due to corrections affecting the crypto market as a whole. Also, after the Pump.fun AMM news first emerged the token lost 29% of its value, dropping from an intra-day high of $4.38 to $3.09. It is still a long way off its all-time high of $16.83, achieved in 2021, but it has gained over 1,300% from its record low, registered in December 2022.
Pump.fun itself hasn’t been doing too well lately. Earlier in the month CryptoPotato reported that the number of meme tokens created on the platform had declined to levels last seen in September 2024.
