Raydium (RAY) Price: Token Reaches $2.50 Following LaunchLab Announcement

TLDR

• Raydium launched LaunchLab on April 16, 2025, a token creation platform competing with Pump.fun
• RAY token price increased about 8-14% following the announcement, reaching $2.50
• LaunchLab offers free token launches with creators earning 10% of trading fees
• 25% of LaunchLab’s 1% trading fees will be used for RAY token buybacks
• The launch comes after Pump.fun launched its own DEX (PumpSwap) in March 2025, which has accumulated over $31.7 billion in trading volume

Raydium, the largest decentralized exchange on Solana by trading volume, launched its new token creation platform called LaunchLab on April 16, causing the RAY token price to climb. The price jumped approximately 8-14% following the announcement, briefly touching $2.50 before experiencing a minor pullback.

The new platform allows users to create and launch tokens easily while integrating directly with Raydium’s liquidity pools. This move puts Raydium in direct competition with Pump.fun, a popular memecoin creation platform on Solana.

Introducing LaunchLab, Raydium's all-in-one token launchpad.

Built for Creators, Developers, and the Community 🫡https://t.co/yZVzShVZSJ

More info ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/r6s1DAegWf

— Raydium (@RaydiumProtocol) April 16, 2025

LaunchLab’s debut comes about a month after Pump.fun launched its own decentralized exchange called PumpSwap. Previously, Pump.fun had been a major contributor to Raydium’s revenue, with tokens created on its platform automatically migrating to Raydium after crossing $69,000 in market capitalization.

How LaunchLab Works

LaunchLab offers several features aimed at making token creation more accessible and profitable for creators. Users can launch tokens for free and customize various aspects of their tokens, including supply indicators, vesting options, and Burn & Earn mechanisms.

Once a token raises 85 SOL (worth approximately $11,150), it automatically transitions to Raydium’s Automated Market Maker (AMM) for trading. According to the LaunchLab platform, around 10 tokens have already crossed this threshold.

Creators can earn up to 10% of the trading fees from their token’s pool after graduation to the main AMM. LaunchLab’s trading fees are set at 1%, with 25% of these fees allocated to buy back RAY tokens, which likely contributed to the price increase.

Market Impact on RAY Token

The RAY token price reaction was immediate following the LaunchLab announcement. After reaching $2.50, the price fell back slightly, trading at $2.21 according to recent data.

Raydium Price on CoinGecko

From a technical analysis perspective, the RAY price appears to be in a corrective phase. The token completed a five-wave upward movement between December 2022 and January 2025 and is now showing signs of a potential A-B-C correction pattern.

The weekly time frame analysis suggests that while the long-term trend may be bearish, the token could potentially reach between $3 and $4.25 before continuing its downward movement. The recent LaunchLab announcement has accelerated this short-term rally.

Changing Dynamics in Solana’s DeFi Landscape

The launch of LaunchLab marks a shift in the relationship between Raydium and Pump.fun. What was once a strong partnership has evolved into direct competition as both platforms seek to capture market share in the growing Solana token creation space.

This competitive dynamic began when Pump.fun launched PumpSwap on March 20, changing how newly created tokens are traded. Instead of migrating to Raydium, tokens now have the option to remain within the Pump.fun ecosystem.

PumpSwap has shown impressive growth since its launch. In just its first 10 days, the platform accumulated $2.5 billion in trading volume. Less than a month after launch, PumpSwap has processed over $31.7 billion in all-time volume, according to DefiLlama data.

The platform continues to break daily trading volume records, with five consecutive days of new highs. On April 17, PumpSwap processed $460 million in trading volume, narrowly surpassing the previous day’s $454.9 million. Since its March 22 launch, PumpSwap has handled $7.3 billion worth of transactions.

The Solana team has expressed support for LaunchLab, considering it an important development for the Solana DeFi ecosystem. This endorsement may help Raydium attract users to its new platform.

With LaunchLab, Raydium aims to recapture some of the volume and revenue it lost when Pump.fun launched its own exchange. By offering features like free token launches, creator fee sharing, and RAY token buybacks, Raydium hopes to establish LaunchLab as the premier token creation platform on Solana.

Early reports had suggested that LaunchLab would closely resemble Pump.fun but with some unique features. The 25% allocation of transaction fees to repurchase RAY tokens appears to be one of these distinguishing elements.

Pump.fun has also announced plans to launch its own native token following the success of its AMM, which could further intensify competition between the two platforms.

As of April 17, 2025, LaunchLab is fully operational, with tokens already meeting the threshold required for migration to Raydium’s main AMM. The platform’s success in the coming weeks will likely have a continued impact on the RAY token price.