Here’s the simple truth about investing in crypto projects: If you could get early in the most promising projects, you’ll win big. However, finding the right projects when they are still in their infancy could be a challenge.
Crypto launchpads make it easier for investors to invest in promising projects before their tokens are released to the public.
A quick primer on crypto launchpads
When new cryptocurrency projects are developing their products and services, they need funds. They sell their tokens to early investors at low prices to help fund the project’s development.
The token price goes up as the project grows. Who stands to benefit the most when the prices go up? The early investors who picked up the tokens at dirt cheap prices.
Up until 2017, crypto projects were directly selling tokens on their websites at a specified price in what was called the Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
But barring a small number of ICOs, most turned out to be scams. Investors ran away from the crypto markets. Most of them were just riding the hype. They had little knowledge or expertise to analyze crypto projects. They would put their money into anything that looked interesting.
To address this problem, cryptocurrency exchanges took the responsibility of analysing new projects. Based on their research, they would join hands with promising projects to host their token sale on the exchange platform.
The crypto exchanges already had a large user base looking to invest in new projects. The vetting process helped reduce the risks for investors. This method was called the Initial Exchange Offering (IEO).
However, the emergence of decentralized exchanges (DEXes) has made it easier and safer for investors to invest in promising crypto projects. The process of raising funds through decentralized exchanges is called the Initial DEX Offering (IDO). And the platforms that facilitate it are called IDO launchpads. They allow investors to buy tokens of new crypto projects before the public.
Each launchpad has some kind of vetting process to avoid rug-pulls and scams. However, investors still need to understand the projects and the associated risks before putting their money on the line.
Here are some of the best crypto launchpads of 2021.
1. Lemonade
Lemonade is one of the most exciting DeFi token launchpads of 2021. It is governed by the Jigstack DAO. STAK is the native token of the Jigstack ecosystem. It is used to manage Lemonade and other Jigstack protocols.
Lemonade makes it easy for crypto projects to deploy their token sales within minutes. It is for project issuers who want to hold a crowd sale without having to deal with technical complexities.
It offers permissionless, hands-free automation, and a customizable sales structure to ensure a seamless user experience. Lemonade recently launched the V2 of its platform, which gives token issuers complete control over the parameters of their IDOs.
Lemonade began by hosting the sale of Jigstack’s own STAK token on the launchpad. It has announced that it would host both the private and public sales of DePo on the platform. DePo is the first multi-market aggregator in the decentralized finance ecosystem.
2. Polkastarter
Based on Polkadot, Polkastarter debuted in December 2020. Polkastarter allows crypto projects to easily launch their own decentralized and interoperable token pools. It offers investors a trustless way to gain access to new funds.
Polkastarter has hosted more than two dozen successful IDOs including Ethernity, Blockchain Cuties, and Convergence.
Its native utility token is called POLS. Anyone who holds at least 3,000 POLS can participate in IDOs on the platform. Non-POLS holders can also participate in public sales.
Polkastarter itself does not control the vetting or listing process. The communities that launch the pools control it. It means the projects with strong communities can raise funds without having to rely on the vetting process. The token price can either be fixed or dynamic.
3. Thorstarter
Thorstarter is a decentralized launchpad that offers cross-chain liquidity to long-tail crypto assets.
The cross-chain liquidity ensures that the fundraising process is fair and transparent. Thorstarter issues liquidity grants to early-stage crypto projects and helps them launch via IDOs. The projects can then swap the THORChain-pooled assets with their own tokens.
Investors can access liquidity from other blockchains without having to use synthetic assets.
Thorstarter’s XRUNE token is a hyperliquid settlement currency, just like RUNE. XRUNE is always paired with another asset to facilitate cross-chain swapping using the native RUNE-XRUNE on THORChain.
Projects selected for Thorstarter approval will have to go through a grant process governed by a community DAO. The grant has to be signed by The Council of Asgard, which consists of 9 members.
New projects launching on Thorstarter use the company’s xIDO model, which allows projects greater flexibility. They can choose from several different launch models and optimize for a token distribution that suits their project and community.
The launch methods are Dynamic Price Action, Pool Share, Fixed Price Crowdsale, Limited supply vs Elastic Supply, Open vs Gated Tiers, and Minimum Purchase vs Max Purchase.
4. SuperStarter
SuperStarter is SuperFarm’s crypto launchpad. For the uninitiated, SuperFarm is a cross-chain DeFi protocol built on the Polygon platform. It allows projects to deploy NFT and crypto farms with custom incentives and rules.
SuperFarm’s utility token is SUPER, which can be used for staking, platform governance, NFT drops, fees, and more.
SuperStarter has successfully held the IDOs of Alpha Impact, Virtual Poker, Don-Key, and ColdStack. During the IDOs, the SUPER token holders got to participate in the next wave of emerging projects.
The projects were vetted by a group of crypto fundamental analysts before their IDOs on SuperStarter. The token launchpad guarantees fairness and maximum transparency.
5. TRONPad
TRONPad is the first native IDO launchpad on the TRON blockchain. TRON joined hands with BSCPad to develop the launchpad.
It will give crypto investors the opportunity to invest in new and quality projects within the TRON ecosystem.
BSCPad, which has launched several successful IDOs on the Binance Smart Chain, will bring its expertise to TRONPad.
BSCPad’s expertise lies in detecting and preventing bots from participating in a token sale. It also avoids preferential treatment for whales. The partnership gives users a “predictable and provably fair system” to accumulate and hold tokens.
TRON is one of the few crypto projects that raised funds via an ICO during the 2017 boom and continues to deliver value to the community. Most other ICOs turned out to be scams.
Given the proven track record and expertise of TRON and BSCPad, TRONPad will certainly give investors access to high-quality projects. Some of its most exciting features of the launchpad are still in the works.
Conclusion
Crypto launchpads have changed the way new projects raise funds and investors participate in token launches.
They not only bridge the distance between new projects and investors, but also bring the trust factor in transactions. New projects can raise millions of dollars quickly to accelerate their development using one of these launchpads in 2021.
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
