Raydium surges 28% after launches LaunchLab

Raydium (CRYPTO:RAY), a decentralised exchange (DEX) on the Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) blockchain, has announced the launch of LaunchLab, a new meme coin platform designed to rival Pump.fun.

This move follows rumors that Pump.fun is developing its own automated market maker (AMM), potentially threatening Raydium's revenue stream.

The announcement of LaunchLab has led to a significant surge in the price of Raydium's native RAY token, which jumped 28% from $1.60 to $2.05 before stabilising at $1.82.

LaunchLab will offer features similar to Pump.fun but with enhancements, including three types of bonding curves (linear, exponential, and logarithmic) and the ability for third-party user interfaces to set their own fees.

This platform aims to provide greater flexibility and security for token creators, potentially luring users back to Raydium if Pump.fun's AMM underperforms.

Raydium previously derived a substantial portion of its revenue from Pump.fun-related swap fees, with some estimates suggesting around 41%.

However, with Pump.fun developing its own AMM, Raydium risks losing a significant part of this income, prompting the development of LaunchLab as an alternative ecosystem for meme cryptocurrencies.

"We’re not here to compete with launchpads currently using Raydium — LaunchLab makes on-chain token launches easier for teams," noted a Raydium core contributor, with the goal of empowering Solana's ecosystem rather than restricting it.

Despite the recent rally, RAY remains significantly below its all-time high due to broader market corrections and previous declines following Pump.fun's AMM news.

However, the launch of LaunchLab positions Raydium to potentially regain market share and strengthen its role in the Solana ecosystem.

At the time of reporting, the Raydium (RAY) price was $1.93.