Crypto launchpads are entering a new era.
But not all launchpads are building the same thing.
Today we have platforms like PONS (
@ponsdotfamily ),
Pump.fun (
@Pumpfun ), Stonk (
@LaunchOnSF ), Poolz (
@PoolzPad ), others — and each represents a very different model of how tokens can enter the market.
Pump.fun changed the industry by making token creation extremely simple.
Anyone can launch. No team, no fundraising round, no complicated infrastructure.
That accessibility created an entirely new market.
But it also created a new problem: Too many tokens. Too little quality.
When launching a token becomes almost free, the market gets flooded with thousands of coins competing for the same liquidity and attention.
Finding the few projects with real utility becomes extremely difficult.
PONS takes the permissionless launchpad model into the new Robinhood Chain ecosystem.
Its infrastructure allows tokens to launch and trade on-chain with automated liquidity mechanics and locked liquidity after graduation.
This is important because launchpads are becoming infrastructure, not simply websites for creating tokens.
STONK experiments with another direction: connecting crypto speculation with tokenized stock narratives and sharing parts of the economic activity with creators or holders.
It shows how launchpads can evolve beyond the traditional “create token → trade token” model.
Then there is Poolz Launchpad.
Poolz represents the older launchpad model that became extremely popular during the 2020–2021 cycle:
Private Sale → IDO → TGE → Market
Instead of creating thousands of tokens instantly, these launchpads focused on giving communities access to projects before public trading.
This difference matters.
The ICO boom really started in 2017 and continued through 2018.
Then the model evolved.
By 2020–2021, IDOs and crypto launchpads became one of the biggest trends in the market.
Why?
Because retail investors wanted something very simple:
Access to projects BEFORE they were already expensive.
Launchpads such as Poolz gave ordinary users a chance to participate in early rounds that were historically available mainly to VCs and large investors.
Of course, many projects failed.
Many ICOs were scams.
Many IDOs eventually went to zero.
Early-stage investing was never risk-free.
But the fundamental idea was powerful:
discover → research → fund → launch → trade
Compare that with today's permissionless launch model:
create → trade → hope
Platforms like
Pump.fun solved token creation.
The next generation of launchpads needs to solve token discovery and capital formation.
Because creating another token is no longer difficult.
Finding a serious project early is.
This is why I believe the ICO/IDO model will return — but in a more mature form.
Not the ICO market of 2017.
Not the IDO market of 2021.
Something new. A combination of:
Permissionless launches + early-stage fundraising + better discovery + transparent liquidity + stronger on-chain data.
Pump.fun proved there is massive demand for launching tokens.
Poolz proved there is massive demand for accessing projects early.
PONS and STONK are showing that launch mechanics themselves can continue evolving.
The future of launchpads isn't about launching more tokens. It's about helping the market find better ones.
$PUMP $STONK $PONS $POOLX
NFA. DYOR. Just sharing my thoughts.