Raydium Fires Back with LaunchLab as $2.5B DEX War with Pump.fun Explodes on Solana
Raydium, the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana by cumulative volume, announced the launch of its anticipated token creation platform, LaunchLab on Tuesday — directly challenging the dominance of Pump.fun. This development follows months of speculation after early signs of the platform’s creation surfaced last month. LaunchLab marks a major evolution for Raydium, which had previously maintained a close working relationship with Pump.fun before pivoting to build its launch infrastructure. A few weeks ago, Pump.fun launched its own DEX called PumpSwap, indicating an intensifying rivalry between two major players in the Solana ecosystem.
Raydium Fires Back at Pump.fun with LaunchLab
LaunchLab provides seamless on-chain token creation with direct integration into Raydium’s automated market maker (AMM), allowing tokens to begin trading immediately on the exchange after launch.
It allows third-party platforms to set custom transaction fees and supports a referral program that rewards users in SOL. With this new platform, Raydium has moved from being a backend liquidity provider for meme coin launches to offering its launchpad infrastructure. The platform offers two modes: a customizable launch feature for more complex projects and a simplified “JustSendIt” mode. In the latter, users can launch a token and, once 85 SOL is raised through a bonding curve, liquidity is automatically migrated to a Raydium pool, LP tokens are burned, and trading continues without interruption. The process is designed to be fast and permissionless, with no migration fee and minimal friction.
The platform’s trading fee structure includes a 1% base fee, 50% of which goes to a community pool, 25% to $RAY token buybacks, and 25% to infrastructure and operations. Creators can also opt in to earn 10% of trading fees from their token’s AMM pool after launch, a move intended to incentivize long-term development and sustainability. LaunchLab also introduces a referral program that pays 10 basis points of swap volume to wallets that refer new users, automatically airdropping SOL to incentivize platform growth. For developers, LaunchLab offers integrated token visibility across multiple terminals and apps, designed to streamline distribution from day one.
Pump.fun’s PumpSwap Heats Up Solana DEX Wars as Trading Activity Soars
Raydium’s new LaunchLab is important in the Solana DEX ecosystem, as Pump.fun’s freshly launched PumpSwap rapidly gains ground. Launched on March 20, PumpSwap shows Pump.fun’s bold move to control its trading flow, ending its reliance on Raydium. Raydium previously handled secondary market activity for meme coins that hit a $69,000 market cap.
Since debuting, PumpSwap has quickly become a powerhouse. According to DeFiLlama, the platform processed $2.5 billion in trades last week, with a 40% week-over-week surge from $1.8 billion. Cumulatively, PumpSwap has cleared nearly $100 million in trades since launch.
Dunedata shows PumpSwap recorded over 6.1 million daily swaps on April 12, 5.7 million on April 14, and over 264,000 active wallets on that day. That same day, the platform hit a record $417.8 million daily trading volume, generating $14.2 million in fees. As competition in Solana’s DEX space heats up, Raydium’s move positions it as a direct challenger in the token launch space. It aims to capture momentum from Pump.fun’s viral success while reinforcing its foothold in the ecosystem.