Initially, Pump.fun's token issuance would trade on its own 'internal market,' and once it reached a market value of $69,000, liquidity would transfer to Raydium's decentralized exchange (DEX) for trading, allowing Raydium to earn trading volume and fees.
However, Pump.fun launched its own DEX (PumpSwap) in March 2025, and token liquidity no longer flowed to Raydium, cutting off Raydium's revenue source.
As a counterattack, Raydium launched LaunchLab on April 16, allowing users to quickly issue tokens and automatically migrate to Raydium's liquidity pool once they reached 85 SOL (approximately $11,150).
LaunchLab's Strategy:
Third-party Integration: LaunchLab allows third-party platforms to create their own token issuance front-end based on its technology, while liquidity remains with Raydium. For example, the Bonk community's Letsbonk.Fun has become an important part of the LaunchLab ecosystem, contributing a majority of the 'graduated' tokens (tokens that meet the liquidity migration standards).
Pack Tactics: By supporting multiple third-party platforms, LaunchLab forms a coalition to besiege Pump.fun.
Incentive Program: Raydium distributes rewards to traders of LaunchLab and Letsbonk.Fun, with approximately $2.8 million (950,000 RAY) allocated as of May 13, releasing about $110,000 daily to attract more users to participate.
Competitive Results:
On May 13, on-chain data showed that LaunchLab (including Letsbonk.Fun) surpassed Pump.fun for the first time in the number of 'graduated tokens' (198) in the past 24 hours, indicating that Pump.fun's dominance was shaken for the first time.