Every crypto project planning a token generation event (TGE) faces the same question: where and how should we launch? where and how should we launch The traditional answers are a centralized exchange (CEX) or a decentralized exchange (DEX). Not long ago, the decision felt straightforward. CEXs promised legitimacy, reach, and liquidity. DEXs offered sovereignty and permissionless access. Today, both paths have clear trade-offs, enough that neither feels like a winning strategy on its own. The result: founders are stuck between two flawed systems – one that extracts and one that fragments – neither built for the speed, fairness, and cultural reach needed by today’s memetic and community-first tokens. But a third option is now emerging: cross-chain-native liquidity metalayers like CrossCurve. This model removes the trade-offs that have defined token launches until now, offering unified liquidity, no KYC or listing fees, one-click cross-chain buying, and support for both memes and infrastructure tokens. cross-chain-native liquidity metalayers CrossCurve We’ll get to that. But first, let’s talk about why the current market demands something different. The memecoin supercycle: it's already here This is not a prediction. The memecoin supercycle is already happening, and the numbers prove it. Look at CoinMarketCap’s top performers as of 2024. Out of hundreds of thousands of tokens launched that year, only 43 have beaten Bitcoin. Thirteen of the top twenty are memecoins. Some are familiar names like DOGE and SHIB. Others are newer and powered almost entirely by retail energy, like PEPE, WIF, and BONK. 43 have beaten Bitcoin Thirteen of the top twenty are memecoins DOGE SHIB PEPE WIF BONK The days when all crypto assets moved together are over. The market now rewards a select few, and it does so for reasons that have little to do with technology. What matters is cultural relevance, fair distribution, and a connection that feels real. This is where memecoins shine. They launch fully circulating, so there are no unlock schedules, delayed emissions, or hidden supply waiting to drop. They have no VC allocations or insider dumps. Price discovery happens in public, with retail setting the market from day one. The stories are simple, the memes travel fast, and the communities grow without heavy engineering. In memecoins, the people are the product, and owning the token becomes part of who you are. In memecoins, the people are the product, and owning the token becomes part of who you are The strongest memecoins are financialized communities and, in some cases, tokenized belief systems. They function like decentralized cults of participation, held together by shared aesthetics, memes, mission, and economic upside. The crypto market no longer rewards just whitepapers or code. It rewards ideas that spread, holders who move as one, and projects that pull people in. Memecoins check all three boxes without pretending to be something they’re not. What broke the VC altcoin model The current token launch space is flooded with VC-backed infrastructure projects, and most of them collapse soon after their token generation event. In 2024 alone, more than 600,000 tokens were launched. At peak times, over 5,000 were going live in a single day. Many followed the same VC playbook: raise in private rounds, build hype through influencers, list on a centralized exchange, and then sell into retail demand. In 2024 alone, more than 600,000 tokens were launched Even so-called blue-chip infrastructure tokens with strong VC backing are underperforming. Almost all price gains now happen before launch in private rounds, leaving retail with little upside and heavy losses. Let’s break down the typical “Tier 1 VC-backed altcoin lifecycle”: Founders get tokens at no costSeed and angel investors buy at deep discountsToken lists on a CEX at a multibillion-dollar valuationAllocations go to market makers and influencersRetailers buy at inflated prices, thinking they’re getting a bargainPrice drops 70–90% after listing, while early investors remain up 100x or more Founders get tokens at no cost Seed and angel investors buy at deep discounts Token lists on a CEX at a multibillion-dollar valuation Allocations go to market makers and influencers Retailers buy at inflated prices, thinking they’re getting a bargain Price drops 70–90% after listing, while early investors remain up 100x or more The result: a synthetic, pre-engineered price curve with no room for organic discovery or community alignment. In many cases, retail believes they’re buying a “discount” when in fact they’re entering a liquidity trap engineered by insiders. a synthetic, pre-engineered price curve retail believes they’re buying a “discount” This dynamic has become so entrenched that Binance Research itself now forecasts $155 billion worth of token unlocks coming in the next five years. A massive structural overhang on any new tech altcoin hoping to sustain price performance. Binance Research itself $155 billion worth of token unlocks Airdrops do not solve the problem. They create immediate sell pressure and rarely bring in loyal holders. Whether through private rounds or pseudo-airdrops, retail is still the exit liquidity. Memecoins offer a different model. The strongest ones launch fully circulating, with no seed investors, no vesting cliffs, and no insider dumping. This restores fair price discovery and builds communities from the ground up. Many early holders have seen life-changing gains and become unpaid advocates. The VC-backed altcoin model was built for capital extraction, not cultural formation. And the market is beginning to recognize that the tokens with the best performance characteristics are not the ones with the deepest tech. They’re the ones with the fairest distribution and cleanest memetics. tokens with the best performance characteristics are not the ones with the deepest tech fairest distribution and cleanest memetics Why most tokens are just financial theatre Most tokens from the last cycle, especially infrastructure and protocol-layer assets, aren’t real innovations. They’re performances of innovation, wrapped in complex tokenomics and whitepaper jargon to justify sky-high valuations. The problem isn’t that these projects lack utility. It’s that utility hardly matters for how the market prices them. Some of the most used dApps in crypto like Uniswap, dYdX, GMX, Blur, Rollbit, or Jupiter have tokens that consistently underperform. $UNI, $DYDX, $BLUR offer governance or utility, yet memecoins still leave them behind in engagement and price action. Even projects with thousands of active users and solid revenue trade at valuations that are completely disconnected from reality. Uniswap dYdX GMX Blur Rollbit Jupiter $UNI $DYDX $BLUR There’s a reason for this. In crypto, revenue creates a floor, but it also creates a ceiling. Once a project becomes easy to value, like a traditional business, the mimetic premium vanishes. Many tokens avoid revenue-sharing entirely, often citing regulation but in truth sidestepping the risk of revealing just how overvalued they are. In crypto, revenue creates a floor, but it also creates a ceiling Instead of being valued on cash flows or user adoption, token prices are driven by: Hype cycles and narrative momentumInfluencer and KOL coordinationMarket maker engineering of price actionEarly insider positioning before TGE Hype cycles and narrative momentum Influencer and KOL coordination Market maker engineering of price action Early insider positioning before TGE And this points to the core truth that most still avoid: crypto isn’t a software industry with financial assets attached. It’s a financial industry that uses software as a delivery mechanism. Software can be copied or improved. Communities can’t. crypto isn’t a software industry with financial assets attached That’s why projects today are judged less by their code and more by their memetics, momentum, and cultural spread. memetics, momentum, and cultural spread Community, not code: what actually drives token success The tokens that break out aren’t the ones with the cleanest code. They’re the ones that rally a crowd. Engineering and product quality still matter, but they don’t decide who wins. Value now follows narratives, trust, and cultural pull. And the projects that understand this build communities first, software second. The tokens leading this cycle share a handful of traits: Organic distribution and perceived fairness Grassroots launches and memecoins thrive because they come with no unlocks, no pre-mines, and no insider allocations. Fully circulating at launch means everyone starts on equal footing. When a token launches with hidden cliffs or delayed emissions, every unlock feels like a betrayal. Wealth creation at the edges The biggest evangelists aren’t paid marketers. They’re early holders whose lives changed because of the project. When gains are real and personal, holders become missionaries. The stories they tell and the culture they build are priceless. No unlocks, no trust breach Memecoins owe nothing to anyone. There are no strategic backroom deals or vesting cliffs. That alignment from day one keeps communities cohesive. Unlocks, on the other hand, create asymmetry, and asymmetry fractures trust. Real price discovery Many CEX launches are engineered for optics: fabricated volume, staged price action, and restricted retail access. Memecoins often launch on-chain, where price comes from real buyers and sellers. The chart reflects conviction, not market-maker scripts. Belonging over technology Most people don’t care about throughput benchmarks or zk-proof efficiency. They care about having fun, being seen, and being part of something bigger. In that sense, memecoins aren’t a break from crypto ideals, but a return to them. They’re sovereign, viral, grassroots digital nations that function like DAOs were meant to. When a token is treated as a cultural product instead of just a financial one, it unlocks a different kind of network effect. Memes bring people in, lore keeps them engaged, and price action becomes shared mythology. These are deliberate design choices. And they’re why memecoins keep outperforming overcapitalized, overengineered tech tokens. CrossCurve: built for the meme era and beyond Look at the way most tokens launch today, and it’s easy to see the cracks. The current paths to market create more problems than they solve. Here’s the reality: CEXs take value before, during, and after a listing.DEXs scatter liquidity and make onboarding harder.VC-funded altcoins are more about early exits than community building.Memecoins have shown that tokens are the product, but they still need a better way to scale. CEXs take value before, during, and after a listing. DEXs scatter liquidity and make onboarding harder. VC-funded altcoins are more about early exits than community building. Memecoins have shown that tokens are the product, but they still need a better way to scale. CrossCurve was built to solve this. It is a cross-chain-native liquidity layer that combines deep liquidity, smooth user experience, and open access. It works for both meme-driven communities and serious infrastructure projects. As a CrossCurve partner, Innowise helps projects tap into unified cross-chain liquidity, streamline their launch process, and reach communities across more than 22 networks from day one. CrossCurve was built to solve this CrossCurve Graph What CrossCurve delivers Multi-chain listings from a single pool Multi-chain listings from a single pool Projects can list across 22+ networks at once, including Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and others, via a single CurveV2 pool, rather than fragmented wrapped token pairs. These pools are created using the project’s token paired with nearly any base asset traded on Curve, such as USDT, ETH, or USDC. via a single CurveV2 pool This model allows true unified liquidity: one pool, accessible from 20+ chains, capital-efficient and slippage-resistant, with no redundant capital or bridge risk. true unified liquidity One-click cross-chain buying One-click cross-chain buying Users can buy tokens across chains without bridging, gas juggling, or interacting with foreign networks. CrossCurve routes swaps through the user's origin chain using smart contracts and oracles to deliver the token to their wallet – even if the token is native to a different chain. without bridging, gas juggling, or interacting with foreign networks Soon, users will even be able to pay gas fees in stablecoins, removing the need to hold native assets at all. This dramatically reduces onboarding friction and increases buyer conversion rates. pay gas fees in stablecoins Flexible listing terms Flexible listing terms CrossCurve offers a flexible, transparent listing process. Projects can choose to cover the one-time blockchain development and integration cost (starting at $10,000), or provide incentives such as token rewards to offset this cost. For high-potential tokens with strong expected trading volume, discounted or no-cost listing options may be considered. All technical deployment and interface integration is handled by the CrossCurve team. discounted or no-cost listing options may be considered Global reach with unified liquidity Global reach with unified liquidity CrossCurve taps into more than 90% of on-chain total value locked (TVL) and reaches over 70% of active DeFi wallets. Tokens listed via CrossCurve appear across the full supported network set without duplicating pools or fragmenting incentives. For users, the experience is seamless. For projects, it means maximum reach with minimal friction. 90% of on-chain total value locked (TVL) over 70% of active DeFi wallets without duplicating pools or fragmenting incentives Technical foundations that matter Curve-based liquidity architecture Curve-based liquidity architecture CrossCurve uses CurveV2’s metapool engine, enabling low-slippage swaps at high volumes, backed by years of uptime and billions in TVL. Liquidity aggregation ensures efficient price execution across chains without the spread manipulation seen on CEXs. Consensus bridge model Consensus bridge model CrossCurve integrates multiple messaging protocols, including LayerZero, Chainlink CCIP, and Axelar, eliminating reliance on a single bridge and mitigating cross-chain risk. Transactions are validated by a decentralized oracle network, with every block written to a proprietary multi-branch blockchain that reflects all supported networks. Capital efficiency Capital efficiency By using synthetic stablecoins and unified LP tokens, CrossCurve enables deep liquidity without requiring projects to overcommit capital on every chain. This structure also supports rapid token mobility, real-time swaps, and price discovery that’s both organic and global. CrossCurve is a cultural and technical unlock. It turns what is normally a multi-week, multi-network coordination effort into a one-click, omnichain launchpad, with no compromise on decentralization or ownership. For tokens that aim to become movements, CrossCurve is the new default. a cultural and technical unlock one-click, omnichain launchpad become movements What’s сoming next: Q3–Q4 2025 roadmap CrossCurve’s current infrastructure already removes major bottlenecks in token launches, but there’s more coming that will push accessibility and efficiency even further: Gasless transactions with stablecoin-only fees Currently, CrossCurve eliminates the need to acquire gas on unfamiliar chains by allowing users to pay network fees from their origin chain. By Q4, this will be extended into a full gasless UX, enabling users to pay all transaction fees directly in stablecoins like USDT or USDC. gasless UX No native tokens. No top-ups. Just a seamless buy flow for everyone, even first-time users. Native LP and farming interfaces within CrossCurve Today, liquidity provisioning and staking occur via the Curve UI. Soon, CrossCurve will offer its own LP/farm management panel, allowing users to stake, manage rewards, and monitor positions from a unified dashboard. This is especially important for meme and retail-heavy projects looking to onboard users who aren’t familiar with DeFi tooling. LP/farm management panel Expanded token incentive models In addition to existing support for CRV and custom token emissions via Gauge contracts, CrossCurve will soon enable EYWA token rewards, adding another layer of optional incentive for LPs and farming participants. EYWA token rewards More chains, more reach While support for 22+ networks is already live, CrossCurve is now expanding beyond chain integrations to include cross-chain DEXs, aggregators, and routing protocols. This will enable near-universal coverage of trading paths, unlocking access to 99% of available routes in the market for any listed token. Projects launching on CrossCurve can benefit from deep liquidity and efficient routing, without needing to fragment their token or deploy across multiple liquidity venues. Our client HAUST, a multi-chain protocol, has also selected CrossCurve as its primary cross-chain liquidity layer, reflecting the growing trust from projects building for decentralized, interoperable ecosystems.

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

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Key aspects of token launches in the current market environment

Key aspects of token launches in the current market environment

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