Launching a Meme Coin

Before launchpads, deploying a token meant manually locking LP and disabling mint/freeze authority. Platforms like Pump.fun and Bonk.fun handle all of that for a few dollars: fill in a name, ticker, image and description. The coin trades on a bonding curve until enough SOL flows in, then it 'graduates' — migrating to a full on-chain liquidity pool.

Vamping is when a rival coin on the same narrative steals the crown — usually because the first coin got the name wrong or launched on the wrong platform. Attention markets are built for churn: creators need content, platforms need launches, traders need new tickets. Fragmentation is a feature, not a bug.

• Canonical identity — a publicly known creator tied to the coin slows copycats.
• Distribution moat — when discovery platforms surface one coin as the leader, competing gets hard.
• Product gravity — fees, buybacks, utility give reasons to hold beyond pure attention.

The billion-dollar memes tended to emerge just before a major bull run — enough time to shake out weak hands before momentum arrived — combined with a meme that proved staying power through sustained virality, a relentless community, or both.