Guess who’s back? If you said Katherine Ross from the Empire newsletter, you’re spot on. She’s taking over today to showcase a Blockworks Research report looking at who could take up some of the marketshare in the launchpad space. So…let’s launch right into it.

Who can compete against pump.fun?

We’re so back when it comes to launchpads. Remember how many folks thought memecoins and things like pump[dot]fun were on the downtrend earlier this year?

How young and naive we all were. Or maybe it’s the opposite. 

Anyway, my point is that launchpads are still having a moment, with the most obvious leader being pump[dot]fun. In our previous conversations with Blockworks Research on the subject of memecoins, the team reiterated how bullish they are on the segment. 

In a report earlier this week, our Research team looked at pump[dot]fun’s dominance in a growing pool. 

So far, pump[dot]fun’s managed to really corner its market. There have been competitors (remember Tron’s attempt, for example?), but none of them have really managed to stick. 

“The core problem was structural: Without instantly recognizable standards and an engaged speculator base (and their capital), these clones offered little more than a lower-fidelity imitation of the original experience,” Research analyst Danny K. wrote. 

But analysts say that it’s still early days for this market, which means we could see more serious competitors to pump[dot]fun down the line. 

“The winners will be those who either defend the core memecoin market or successfully create and grow entirely new categories rather than offering ‘pump[dot]fun but slightly different,’” the report said. 

Raydium is a clear competitor, but they also note that Meteora “has had quiet success” in some of the same pools, from getting big launch partners (Trump and Melania Trump) to also offering infrastructure. Between that and their relationship with Jupiter, Blockworks Research said that they “ultimately view them as another major contender in this battle.”

— Katherine Ross

P.S. If you enjoyed this edition, subscribe to the Empire newsletter for lots more like it. We’ll catch ya in your inbox.

_{Brought to you by:}

Every day, users lose money to MEV — through frontrunning, sandwich attacks, and other hidden exploits.

BITE Protocol puts an end to MEV. Built by the SKALE Labs team, BITE uses threshold encryption to eliminate MEV at the consensus level.

Transactions are encrypted before consensus and only decrypted after finalization; no one can see or reorder transactions in advance. The result? No MEV. Just fair execution for all. Learn How BITE Ends MEV.

The Roundup

Empire: COIN is clearly a popular pick nowadays, but can CRCL join it? Katherine squashes acquisition rumors as Circle preps its IPO.

Forward Guidance: Firms are on a bitcoin buying spree. An exec told Ben why thousands could ultimately adopt the asset.

Lightspeed: Jack was busy running around Solana Accelerate in NYC. Here are the big unsettled questions that came out of the conference.

0xResearch: It’s been two years since Donovan let a World Orb scan his irises. He checks in with what World is doing with his biometric data.

The Drop: Apparently, it’s a controversial take to ask for more single-player games. Read Kate’s op-ed to find out why. 

Supply Shock: Did Satoshi really mine more than 1.1 million bitcoin? David’s got the scoop on why they might still hold the keys to their BTC hoard.