#GateMeme狂欢季 #GateMeme Meme Token Launchpads — Comparison of PONS, STONK, PUMP, and BONK
I. Basic Overview of the Assets
Token launchpads are permissionless, one-click token issuance infrastructure. They rely on bonding curves to facilitate token issuance and on-chain trading. Their core business model is to collect trading fees and capture token value through buybacks and burns.
PONS
The native token launchpad of Robinhood Chain, modeled after Solana’s shturlc, with a fair launch in mid-July 2026. It supports one-click deployment of Meme and RWA tokens. Trading fees are split 70:30, with 70% going to token creators and the remaining 30% allocated to the protocol treasury. Of the protocol treasury’s revenue, 80% is used to buy back and permanently burn PONS through TWAP (time-weighted average price), while 20% is used for operations and development. It is Robinhood Chain’s core traffic-generating application and has cumulatively burned approximately 30% of the total supply.
DefiLlama data: Protocol revenue available for buybacks over the past 30 days was $14.49 million, annualized at approximately ¥176.3M; the current price is 0.71, the circulating supply is 686 million tokens, and the circulating market cap is ¥483.9 million; the buyback payback period is 4.839/1.76295 = 2.74 years.
Meaning: If revenue and the token price remain unchanged, the buyback funds could theoretically purchase all tokens back in 2.74 years.
STONK
A Robinhood Chain token launchpad, fairly launched in August 2026 and competing with PONS on the same chain with differentiated positioning. It focuses on issuing tokenized RWA stock pairs and uses a bonding curve mechanism. 60% of platform fees are used to buy back and burn the token.
Differentiating feature: Token issuers can customize token transfer taxes, with the proceeds distributed directly to holders of that token.
DefiLlama data: Protocol revenue available for buybacks over the past 30 days was $5.69 million, annualized at approximately ¥69.23M; the current price is 0.27, the circulating supply is 838 million tokens, and the circulating market cap is ¥222.2 million; the buyback payback period is 3.22 years.
PUMP
The leading native Meme token launchpad on Solana and a pioneer in the sector. The platform launched in January 2024, and its token had a fair launch in mid-2025. It uses a bonding curve to enable one-click token issuance and built-in trading pools. 50% of the platform’s net revenue is used to buy back and burn the token, creating a complete business loop of “token issuance → curve trading → graduation and migration to its own AMM.”
DefiLlama data: Protocol revenue available for buybacks over the past 30 days was $25.15 million, annualized at approximately ¥305.9917 million; the current price is 0.0043, the circulating supply is 467.85B tokens, and the fully diluted valuation is ¥3.57B; the buyback payback period is 11.66 years.
BONK
A native Solana community Meme coin created at the end of 2022, rather than a pure launchpad project. Its ecosystem matrix includes the BONKfun token launchpad, a TG on-chain trading bot, BONKswap, and multiple other business lines. 50% of ecosystem fees are used to buy back and burn the token. It has exceptionally strong community consensus and more diversified revenue sources, with the launchpad serving only as a sub-business within the ecosystem.
DefiLlama data: Protocol revenue available for buybacks over the past 30 days was $1.74 million, annualized at approximately ¥21.17 million; the current price is 0.0000028, the circulating supply is 87.99 trillion tokens, and the fully diluted valuation is ¥247.62 million; the buyback payback period is 11.68 years.
II. Valuation Differences: The Underlying Logic Behind the Significant Discount of Robinhood Chain Assets
The buyback payback periods calculated above make it clear: PONS (2.74 years) and STONK (3.22 years) on Robinhood Chain are valued far below PUMP (11.66 years) and BONK (11.68 years) in the Solana ecosystem. Although they share the same token launchpad business model of using fees for buybacks and burns, the significant valuation gap clearly stems from differences in market risk premiums.
1. Risk Discount Resulting from the Maturity of the Public-Chain Ecosystem
PUMP and BONK are rooted in the Solana public chain. Their ecosystem has been tested through bull and bear cycles and has accumulated long-term native users, mature market makers, and MEV infrastructure, with high recognition among both retail and institutional investors. The market believes that demand for Meme token issuance will remain sustainable over the long term. Even if revenue fluctuates in the short term, the sector’s foundation will not collapse overnight, so investors are willing to assign a growth premium and accept longer payback periods.
By contrast, PONS and STONK are deployed on Robinhood Chain, a brand-new L2 ecosystem launched only in 2026. The market generally believes that current traffic reflects a short-term pulse driven by platform referrals rather than long-term native users. At the same time, strategic adjustments by Robinhood’s parent company and changes in RWA token regulatory policies could directly impact the entire ecosystem. As a result, the market demands an extremely high margin of safety for Robinhood Chain assets, creating a clear risk discount.
2. Different Project Lifecycles: Short-Term Traffic Dividends vs. a Bull-and-Bear-Tested Moat
PUMP is the sector’s pioneering leader and has completed a full bull-bear cycle. Its brand moat is solid, and it has near-monopoly status in the Solana Meme launchpad sector, making it difficult for new competitors to seize its core traffic. BONK itself is a leading Solana Meme IP. In addition to its launchpad, its TG trading bot provides stable baseline cash flow, while business diversification hedges the risks of relying on a single business.
By contrast, PONS and STONK have been live for only 2–3 months and have not yet undergone a bear-market stress test. Their current high revenue comes from the traffic dividend during the initial launch of Robinhood Chain. Market pricing already reflects the expectation that “revenue will likely decline in the future,” so short-term peak revenue will not simply be extrapolated linearly into long-term cash flow.
3. Differences in Internal Competition and Narrative Optionality
There is direct internal competition within the Robinhood Chain ecosystem. PONS and STONK are competing for creator resources, and new launchpads will enter the market in the future to divide fee revenue. The market expects long-term profit margins to continue being compressed by competition.
At the narrative level, PUMP has growth optionality as a leading sector asset. BONK relies on a top-tier Meme brand IP whose IP itself has independent value and is not entirely dependent on launchpad fees. By contrast, the value of PONS and STONK is almost entirely tied to launchpad fees and buybacks and burns. They currently lack additional sources of narrative premium, so their valuations are determined solely by current cash flow.
III. Reasonable Valuation Ranges for the Token Launchpad Sector (Based on Buyback Payback Periods)
Token launchpads are highly procyclical. Explosive trading volume in bull markets leads to surging revenue, while cooling market sentiment in bear markets causes token issuance demand to approach zero. Therefore, valuation ranges need to be differentiated by ecosystem maturity and cannot simply apply traditional DeFi or stock valuation frameworks:
For assets in emerging ecosystems (Robinhood Chain-type assets, with no bear-market validation and intense same-chain competition), the reasonable steady-state buyback payback period is 3–6 years. PONS is currently at 2.74 years and STONK at 3.22 years, placing them near the lower bound of the range and reflecting bearish market pricing. However, this valuation depends on ecosystem traffic continuing to accumulate. Once enthusiasm fades, declining revenue will directly extend the payback period.
For leading assets in mature public-chain sectors (PUMP-type assets that have experienced bull and bear cycles and possess relatively strong moats), the reasonable steady-state buyback payback period is 8–15 years. PUMP is currently at 11.66 years, within the reasonable valuation range for a mature leader.
For Meme + diversified ecosystem assets (BONK-type assets), the reasonable steady-state buyback payback period is 10–18 years, with the valuation including a brand IP premium. BONK is currently at 11.68 years, toward the lower end of the range.
IV. Opportunities Embedded in the Sector
1. Valuation Recovery Potential from Ecosystem Dividends
The extremely low current buyback payback periods of Robinhood Chain’s PONS and STONK already fully reflect the market’s bearish expectations for a new ecosystem. If Robinhood Chain can continue to accumulate users and its popularity is not merely a one-off pulse, these assets have room for valuation recovery. 2. A Clear Deflationary Flywheel with Auditable On-Chain Data
The sector’s business model is straightforward: revenue comes from trading fees, and cash flow is directly converted into secondary-market buybacks and burns, continuously reducing the circulating token supply. When trading volume rises in a bull market, the burn volume expands accordingly, forming a positive flywheel of “rising trading volume → increased fees → more buybacks and burns → reduced circulating supply.” Fees and burn records are all verifiable on-chain, making fundamental indicators easy to track and validate.
3. Sustained Market Demand in the Sector
Meme coins are a long-term narrative vehicle in the crypto market. Permissionless, one-click token issuance lowers the barrier to launching tokens, and in a bull-market environment, creators’ demand for issuing tokens will persist. The launchpad sector therefore has fundamental long-term market demand.
V. Risk Warnings
1. Short-Term Annualized Revenue Can Create a Major Illusion
The calculation annualizes short-term peak revenue from the past 30 days, which is the sector’s biggest valuation trap. Launchpad revenue depends heavily on market speculation. Once market conditions cool, the number of token launches and trading volume can fall off a cliff, causing annualized revenue to shrink rapidly and instantly invalidating the valuation logic based on low buyback payback periods.
2. Governance Risk in Buyback-and-Burn Rules
The buyback-and-burn ratios of all four projects are governance rules rather than being permanently locked into hard contracts. Community votes can reduce the burn ratio and increase the team’s operations share. Once the value-capture mechanism is modified, the core valuation logic of the token will be undermined.
3. Risk of the Public-Chain Ecosystem Going to Zero
The Robinhood Chain ecosystem relies heavily on traffic from Robinhood’s parent company. If the parent company changes its strategy or regulators introduce policies restricting RWA tokens, traffic throughout the ecosystem could disappear rapidly. By comparison, the Solana ecosystem is more independent and faces relatively lower risk.
4. Persistent Internal Competition Driven by Low Barriers to Entry
The development barrier for token launchpads is relatively low. New protocols can attract token issuers by offering creators a higher revenue share, continuously compressing protocol fee revenue and directly reducing the cash flow available for buybacks and burns.
5. Differentiated Liquidity Risk
PONS and STONK have been live for only a short time and have thin trading depth, so large trades can generate significant slippage. When the market turns bearish, their downside volatility is far greater than that of mature assets such as PUMP and BONK.
