Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Asher (@Asher_ 0210)
Even before the Pools.trade frontend officially opened, the 'P-Army' had already been P-ing for a round.
At 0:00 on August 5th, with 24 hours to go until the official launch of Uniswap's Pools.trade. During the countdown, the community found the platform's early-deployed contracts in advance and directly traded already issued tokens on-chain. By the time the Pools.trade frontend officially opened, these early contracts had already accumulated over $150 million in trading volume.
Regarding this, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams stated that the massive volume of pre-launch trades forced the team to readjust the website and data indexing, simultaneously accommodating both test contracts and the final version contracts, disrupting the originally planned launch rhythm.
This sense of fluster displayed by a DeFi veteran like Uniswap seemed somewhat like a 'makeshift team,' but the trading data was undeniably high. Dune data shows that on August 5th alone (the frontend didn't officially open until the morning of August 6th Beijing Time, with most of this volume generated before the frontend launch), Pools.trade trading volume reached $99.1 million, accounting for approximately 54.2% of the total trading volume on Robinhood Chain's token launch platforms that day, far exceeding the previously dominant Pons.
pools.trade: The Token Launch Platform Directly Launched by Uniswap
Project Introduction
Pools.trade is a token launch platform launched by Uniswap Labs on Robinhood Chain, officially positioned as a Meme coin launchpad. Users can complete token creation, new token discovery, and trading on the same page. Each token has a fixed total supply of 1 billion, eventually entering Uniswap v4 with liquidity permanently locked.
Tokens launched on Pools.trade are immediately accessible via the Uniswap web interface, wallet, Launches page, and Trading API, reaching audiences on MetaMask, Ledger, and multiple DEX aggregators. Compared to new platforms where users must find trading entry points from scratch, pools.trade launched with Uniswap's existing user base and distribution channels.
Two Launch Modes
Pools.trade offers Instant Launch and Crowd Launch modes, which are:
- Instant Launch: Launch immediately. After the creator fills in the name, Ticker, image, and description, the token opens for trading directly, with prices fluctuating based on market buys and sells. There are no minimum market cap requirements or fixed end time;
- Crowd Launch: Employs a four-hour launch window. Participants submit budgets in advance, and orders are gradually filled over the remaining time, with earlier participation typically resulting in lower prices. After the launch ends, if the token FDV reaches $10,000, it becomes available for trading; if the threshold is not met, all participant funds are fully refunded. This mode is primarily used to reduce the impact of bot opening sniping and bundled transactions.
Platform's Most Prominent Feature: Transaction Fee is Only One-Quarter of Pons and Flap
Pools.trade does not charge an additional launchpad fee; each transaction incurs a 0.25% Uniswap v4 pool fee. After the creator enables the fee split, 0.05% goes to the creator, and 0.20% is automatically reinvested into the permanently locked liquidity pool, with Uniswap Labs not taking a share.
The transaction fees for Pons and Flap are both 1%. Based on $10 million trading volume, Pools.trade generates $25,000 in fees, of which the token creator receives $5,000; Pons generates $100,000 in fees, and with a 70% creator share, the token creator receives $70,000.
Pools.trade lowers transaction costs and keeps most of the fees within the liquidity; Pons and Flap offer higher direct income for token creators. The former is more favorable for trading, while the latter provides more direct incentives for token creators.
For a detailed introduction, recommended reading: "Uniswap Launches Token Launch Platform Pools.trade, Will Robinhood Launchpad Ecosystem Be Reshuffled?"
Only Two Tokens Surpass $1 Million Market Cap, Pre-launch Minting Raises Fairness Concerns
Despite the impressive number of token launches and platform trading volume, Pools.trade has not yet produced a high-market-cap Meme coin. As of now, only two tokens on Pools.trade have market caps above $1 million, namely FRONG and POOLS; additionally, tokens with market caps above $400,000 include HOOKR, UNIPEG, CHWDR, and PosM.
FRONG, Market Cap Once Reached $18 Million
FRONG is currently the highest market cap Meme on Pools.trade. At 0:00 on August 5th, Uniswap's official Twitter began the 24-hour countdown for the Pools.trade launch, posting a video of a frog 'playing' by a pond.
After the tweet, the community quickly noticed the frog Meme coin — FRONG — launched via Pools.trade's early contracts and viewed it as the platform's mascot concept coin. Driven by this FOMO sentiment, FRONG's market cap briefly touched $18 million.
However, FRONG had already been minted via contract before Uniswap started the Pools.trade launch countdown. On-chain records show that FRONG was minted and its trading pool established as early as July 30th, five days before Uniswap's countdown announcement; the relevant contracts were even deployed approximately three weeks prior, without any indication of a relationship with Uniswap or Pools.trade at the time.
As this time discrepancy was discovered, questions arose about the fairness of FRONG's launch, and its market cap rapidly retreated from its highs. Even after Pools.trade officially launched yesterday at 0:00, FRONG did not gain significant community traction, its market cap consistently remaining below $10 million, currently reported at around $7 million.
POOLS, Market Cap Once Surpassed $4 Million
POOLS, currently the second-highest market cap token on Pools.trade, shares a similar situation with FRONG, being a Meme coin minted before the platform's official launch.
Compared to FRONG's 'frog mascot' narrative, POOLS's logic is more direct — its name matches the platform, leading the community to treat it as the Pools.trade concept coin. Its market cap once exceeded $4 million before falling back to around $1.8 million.
FRONG relied on the 'frog mascot' narrative, POOLS on sharing the platform's name — both should have had higher market cap expectations. However, both faced diminished community FOMO due to 'insider trading' controversies arising from pre-launch minting, resulting in market caps below $10 million.
The most fundamental logic of Meme coins is that everyone wants to believe they are starting from the same line. Once fairness is questioned, even the best token narrative struggles to sustain spontaneous community propagation. This might be the reason why Pools.trade, despite impressive data, has yet to produce a high-market-cap Meme.
Nevertheless, Pools.trade is backed by Uniswap, and Robinhood Chain is currently one of the hottest public chains for Meme discussions. The platform currently lacks not for流量 (流量 - traffic/audience), but for a sufficiently interesting new narrative free from 'insider trading' controversy. It might not be long before Pools.trade sees its first 'speedrun play'.
