CoinMarketCap Academy takes a deep dive into two of the most popular Binance tools - Launchpool and Launchpad. Read more to find out what benefits these tools offer to users!
Binance has dozens of tools and services that can help grow your crypto portfolio. Two of the most popular are Launchpad and Launchpool.
These similarly-named services are often mixed up with one another, which is why we have put together this guide to explain what Launchpad and Launchpool are, how they are alike, and where they differ.
Before we dive into a deeper description, here’s a quick explanation of Launchpad and Launchpool for those of you who want a quick answer.
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The Short Version
In many ways, Launchpad and Launchpool are similar. Both services are provided by Binance and drive support and awareness for promising crypto startups. Both offer early access to quick and easy revenue-yielding services to Binance account holders. And both support the projects they help launch through media and marketing advice, as well as fundraising assistance.
That concludes our brief overview of how Launchpad and Launchpool differ. Now, we are going to explore Binance’s two services in detail.
The Long Version
What Is Binance Launchpad?
Binance Launchpad is the world’s first Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) platform. If you aren’t familiar with the term, IEOs are where crypto startups raise capital by selling their native tokens to grow their platforms through an exchange, like Binance.
How Does Launchpad Work?
Launchpad gives you a first look at dozens of promising new crypto ventures, all of which are hand-picked by Binance. What’s more, investing through Launchpad is simple, easy, and safe.
During the first few Launchpad IEOs back in 2019, investors could buy up as much of a Launchpad project’s token allocation as they wanted. This inevitably led to whales buying up all of the tokens and squeezing out smaller investors. Had this continued, one or two wealthy individuals could have had controlling stakes in some major crypto projects, damaging their claims to operate in a decentralized way.
To rectify this, Binance introduced a lottery system to democratize the token-buying process. Its mechanism lets you claim up to five lottery tickets based on a snapshot of your BNB token holdings over the previous twenty days. Obviously, the more BNB tokens you hold, the more lottery tickets you can claim, and the more tokens you can earn from the IEO.
To claim your lottery tickets, you’ll need to commit some crypto to a holding period, as discussed above. Once the time ends, a “claim tickets” button appears for a 24-hour period, during which you can confirm them. The lottery then takes place, and the winners automatically participate in the Launchpad IEO event.
Once the IEO ends, Binance will automatically distribute your newly accrued tokens. The number of coins you can earn depends on two factors: how many lottery tickets you claimed, and the total amount of crypto invested by all the investors through the IEO. Again, the more money you invest, the more tokens you will earn.
Why Do Crypto Startups Want to Work With Launchpad?
Launchpad gives new crypto companies a wealth of benefits and advantages they wouldn’t otherwise have. For instance, easy access to Binance’s community of investors.
Another benefit is an easier marketing strategy. As readers who use Binance will know, whenever the exchange works with a new project (especially the Launchpad ones), its media and marketing materials will be advertised all over Binance’s website and social media accounts.
Additionally, once a project officially launches, its token is listed on Binance’s spot market with multiple trading pairs, which can provide some much-needed daily trading volume.
And let’s not forget that those projects who work with Launchpool are checked and verified by Binance, which lends them some serious credibility in the wider crypto community.
Are Launchpad Projects Successful?
In short, yes. Launchpad alumni are a remarkably successful bunch. So far, Launchpad has raised funds and rolled out more than sixty crypto projects since 2019. Those tokens have since accrued billions of US dollars in value.
What Does Binance Look for in Launchpad Projects?
The Launchpad team will not accept any old crypto projects, especially those only hoping to make a quick buck. Project teams who want to launch their new company through Launchpad have to meet certain requirements.
They must have, for example, finished business and token economics models which they can present to the Launchpad team. They also need to provide a brief history of their development team, including their experience and qualifications. And finally, their project must be in a mature stage, suitable for large-scale adoption, and have the potential to benefit the wider crypto community.
How to Use Binance Launchpad as an Investor
To use Binance Launchpad, you first need to sign up for a Binance account and pass some KYC and identity verification checks.
Once that’s out of the way, you then log in, click the menu icon in the top left of the taskbar, and select “Launchpad” from the drop-down menu.
Your browser will then bring up a page showing all the active and finished Launchpad projects. You are now free to read about and partake in whichever Launchpad promotion you want.
What Is Binance Launchpool?
As a reward for supplying liquidity to a pool, you earn interest. This process, in short, describes what Binance Launchpool really is: a centralized yield farming service.
Yield farming through Launchpool works similarly to other providers. You earn new tokens by staking your current holdings for a specified period, usually 30 days. And while Launchpool doesn’t cap the number of tokens you can stake, the minimum amount is 0.1 of whatever token you are staking.
How Do Launchpool Rewards Work?
Following the first seven days of a new project’s farming period, Binance lists its token on the spot market. At this point you and all the other investors can trade your accrued tokens. From this point on, you can add to your investment, withdraw your tokens, or trade your rewards whenever you want.
How Can You Use Launchpool?
To earn some cash from farming through Binance Launchpool, you need a Binance account. Once you have an account, you need to log in and then head over to the Launchpool page. From there, select the pool you want to stake in, type in however many tokens you want to commit, and then click “Stake.” That’s it!
You don’t need to meet any stringent criteria to farm through Launchpool. But you do need at least 0.1 of whichever token you want to farm. If you decide to use BNB tokens, those will still count towards your Launchpad lottery ticket requirements, and upcoming airdrops, and will still help you to accrue other VIP benefits.
Why Do Crypto Projects Want to Work With Launchpool?
Similar to Binance Launchpad, the projects that feature on Launchpool have Binance’s full support.
This includes advisory services, marketing assistance, and access to Binance’s enormous community of investors. Upon a Launchpool project’s token launch, Binance creates multiple trading pairs for its spot market, which allows every Binance account holder to trade the project’s tokens.
The CEOs and founders of projects that graduated from Launchpool have returned mostly positive feedback about their experiences working with Binance.
Reed CEO Denko Mancheski remarked that thanks to Launchpool, “the growth and adoption that we experienced are on an unparalleled scale”.
Similarly, Litentry CEO Hanwen Cheng says that support provided by Launchpool was “unprecedented,” and that his company “unlocked great value that goes beyond traditional bootstrap, and… saw the profound, invisible, long-term impact that the BSC ecosystem has on us.”