Depth comparison of 8 major Launchpads, who will be the king of versions in 2025?

As the cryptocurrency market moves into 2025, the Web3 launch platform (Launchpad) ecosystem has evolved into a diverse landscape, with various platforms engaging in differentiated layouts around different types of projects, users, and financing models. From issuance platforms supported by centralized exchanges to decentralized IDO mechanisms, and to new models like LBP (Liquidity Bootstrapping Auction), Launchpad has become the core vehicle for early investment and project initiation in the crypto world. This article provides an in-depth comparison of 8 major Launchpad platforms, including DAO Maker, Seedify, ChainGPT Pad, Virtuals, CoinTerminal, Fjord Foundry, CoinList, and Binance Launchpad, covering their project overview, issuance mechanisms, return performance, track positioning, and unique innovations.

DAO Maker: A Launchpad Balancing Retail-Friendliness and VC-Style Selection

Platform Positioning and Vision

DAO Maker connects retail users with a VC-like project selection system through its innovative "Strong Holder Offering" (SHO) mechanism. Users need to stake $DAO tokens and have a long-term holding record to qualify for allocations, emphasizing the concept of "loyalty staking," thereby aligning the long-term interests of investors and projects. Since 2019, DAO Maker has facilitated over 179 token launches, raising approximately $107 million, with representative projects including My Neighbor Alice and XCAD. The platform has gradually expanded from one-time sales to an "accelerator ecosystem," with new features such as DAO Farms and Vaults allowing users to continuously earn token rewards during the staking period (with annualized returns of up to 300--1500%), thereby extending the community's fund lock-up period. Its core vision is to create a retail-friendly Web3 launch platform with VC-level selection and continuous incentive mechanisms.

2025 Representative Project

DAO Maker recently focuses on projects with clear narratives and diverse types, including:

• SpeedThrone: An AAA racing project that integrates AI elements, supporting staking mining for 6 to 12 months.
• 0xFútbol: A blockchain fantasy sports platform themed around football, combining collectibles and predictive gameplay, closely aligned with World Cup trends.
• Kayen Protocol: Provides DeFi data validation and modular security services, suitable for re-staking and DePIN systems.
• Fusio: Enterprise-level DePIN platform equipped with AI monitoring mechanisms, aimed at enterprise validator operating scenarios.

These cases show that DAO Maker is compatible with sports/fan economy and AI/infrastructure projects, with a wide range of themes.

Investment Return Performance

In the first half of 2025, the overall returns of the DAO Maker project were mediocre, with the average current ROI approximately at 0.14× of the IDO price, and the highest historical ROI average being 3.65×. Most projects saw a rapid price decline after listing, although there were still a few breakthrough results. The platform mitigated the losses from price drops through a staking mining mechanism, allowing token holders to continue earning profits even when prices fell. The SHO mechanism somewhat suppressed selling behavior, but it has yet to fully hedge against the overall market weakness. It is worth noting that DAO Maker had better returns in the past (for example, Orion Protocol achieved several times growth), and the current low ROI is more a reflection of the overall market environment rather than a flaw in the platform's mechanism.

Mechanism Innovation Highlights

• Strong Holder Offering (SHO): Obtain allocation rights by staking $DAO tokens, rewarding long-term holders.
• Yield Mining/Vaults: New projects often come with months of mining activities, distributing the sold tokens as rewards to DAO stakers or liquidity providers. This "stake to earn" model creates demand and liquidity after the IDO.
• DAO token binding: Participants in DAO Maker must hold $DAO to participate, thereby cultivating loyalty. The "DAO Power" system records users' holding points to prevent quick sell-offs.

These mechanisms enhance the sustainability of IDOs in the later stages while maintaining market enthusiasm, and reflect DAO Maker's dual positioning of combining the breadth of retail investors with the depth of project review.

Track Focus and Strategic Positioning

DAO Maker focuses on emerging narratives and practical projects, with its 2025 project layout covering 2.0 (SpeedThrone), sports/fan interaction (0xFútbol), DeFi infrastructure (Kayen), and AI/business services (Fusio). Compared to chasing trends of "Meme-type platforms", DAO Maker is more inclined to build a project ecosystem with real value and return mechanisms. Its strategy is to create a "community-driven accelerator" to attract entrepreneurs who wish to balance retail traffic with long-term healthy development.

Seedify: Community-Driven Next-Generation Launchpad

Platform Positioning and Vision

Since 2021, Seedify ($SFUND) has been dedicated to promoting the incubation of high-quality projects in the fields of NFTs, gaming, AI, and DeFi through a community consensus mechanism. As of now, Seedify has facilitated the issuance of over 100 tokens, raising a total of approximately $40 million to $55 million. The platform combines the advantages of CEX and DeFi, adopting a $SFUND staking tiered mechanism to ensure user allocation rights, and introduces community reviews to replace closed private placement screenings. In 2025, Seedify continues its technological innovation by launching a permissionless bond curve issuance platform, a decentralized curation DAO, and an on-chain social distribution mechanism, becoming one of the most cutting-edge Launchpads in the tech stack.

2025 Representative Project

• Stable Jack (JACK): A fixed/leverage yield protocol deployed on Avalanche, completing its IDO in April 2025, with an FDV valuation of $20 million, raising approximately $300,000. The tokens will be fully unlocked after TGE, but the market response has been relatively weak.
• Aiki (AIKI): An AI × gaming prediction platform on the Solana chain, set to launch in May 2025, utilizing a dual channel model of $SFUND + public offering, raising approximately $175,000. Early user participation is high, but the token price performance is average.
• P33L (P33L): An AI satire meme project, issued through a bond curve method in April 2025, with a total valuation of $250,000, selling 28% of the supply and raising approximately $70,000, reflecting Seedify's strategy to support culturally innovative projects.

Investment Return Performance

Despite the overall cooling of the market, the historical average highest ROI of the Seedify project remains around 8×. Several projects are expected to have considerable heat during their initial launch in 2025, but a general price correction follows. This phenomenon has become the current norm for IDOs. Seedify aims to avoid severe sell-offs and promote long-term value by introducing bond curves and flexible unlocking mechanisms.

Mechanism Innovation Highlights

• Smart Joint Curve Issuance: The token price rises dynamically with purchasing demand, automatically generating $SFUND--project token LP pool after selling out, achieving liquidity upon launch, and incorporating safeguards against "Rug Pull" and "Sniping": a 24-hour refund window and progressive pricing to prevent bots from snatching tokens and ensure buyer rights.
• Layered Access Mechanism (Staking + Social): In the early stages, priority access is granted to $SFUND stakers and users with high "social scores" (obtained through referrals, interactions similar to Kaito, and community activities), while later on, it will be open to the public, forming a gamified entry logic that encourages active contributors. This "social allocation layer" rewards community builders, not just whales.
• Investor-friendly unlocking/refund mechanism: Each project can choose a flexible vesting schedule, Seedify offers instant unlocking or short-term linear unlocking (1-4 weeks) to balance trust and sales pressure. In addition, each token issuance has a 24-hour refund window, allowing buyers to opt for a refund in uncertain situations. This mechanism is similar to the downside risk protection of the CoinTerminal model, providing users with additional confidence assurance.
• Decentralized Curator Program: A network of curators composed of KOLs, VCs, guilds, and DAOs selects projects for the platform and can earn revenue sharing, allocation quotas, and community whitelists.
• $SFUND Incentive Flywheel: Each issuance activity injects new use cases for $SFUND. Staking Level → Token Distribution → Token Issuance → Liquidity Creation → Buying Pressure and Token Burn. As the issuance quantity increases, the intrinsic demand for $SFUND tokens also grows. Seedify's design ensures that its native token benefits from the ecosystem it drives.

Track Focus and Strategic Positioning

Seedify, with gaming and culture as its core starting point, is gradually expanding into the fields of AI and DeFi. Its recent project lineup (Stable Jack, Aiki, P33L) covers multiple sectors including DeFi yields, AI gaming, and Meme culture. The platform prides itself as a "leader in Web3 culture and gaming" and is gradually embracing cutting-edge trends such as on-chain AI and DePIN protocols. Seedify positions itself as a community-first alternative: more open than before, more interesting than CoinList, and more organized than Virtuals. By integrating joint curves and refund mechanisms, it aims to provide new projects with upward potential while increasing investor protection.

Unique Strategy Summary

Seedify integrates multiple mechanisms to create an "open and protected" issuance model. Its planned permissionless bond curve platform, set to launch by the end of 2025, will allow any team to issue their own tokens, combining automatic liquidity with an anti-sniping mechanism, similar to the openness of CoinTerminal, but with additional protections. The Curated DAO absorbs the "review spirit" of DAO Maker and leverages social incentive mechanisms (such as Kaito or Ethos points) to enhance user engagement, ultimately forming a composite of CoinTerminal's openness, Fjord's fairness mechanism, DAO Maker's interest binding, and community-oriented culture, heralding the emergence of a new generation of Launchpads.

ChainGPT Pad: A Launchpad Focused on Artificial Intelligence

Platform Positioning and Vision

ChainGPT Pad is the preferred launchpad for AI-first Web3 startups. It is part of the ChainGPT ecosystem (known for its AI chatbots and developer tools) and undergoes depth incubation through technical support (smart contract audits, AI analysis) before the project goes live. Participation requires holding or staking $CGPT tokens, which are supported by the platform's AI product fees (a portion of user fees will be burned). The vision of ChainGPT Pad is to become the primary DEAI (Decentralized AI) issuance tool: any project launched on it will receive customized guidance for AI, while stakers of $CGPT will gain access to participate in token sales.

2025 Representative Project

The 2025 project portfolio of ChainGPT Pad integrates AI infrastructure and some:

• Omnia Protocol (OMNIA): A privacy-focused blockchain access provider (RPC relay), crucial for AI data feeding. ATH ROI approximately 5 times.
• Arcade (ARC): An interoperable, NFT-based competitive gaming platform that heralds a new trend.
• Flash Protocol (FLASH): A DeFi utility token for ultra-fast DEX trading, featuring AI predictive analytics.
• NextGem AI (GEMAI): An AI-driven cryptocurrency content discovery platform (an "alpha feed" platform). Issued in April 2025 through a whitelist.
• AdixAI (ADIX): An AI advertising optimization network. Uniquely, ADIX will be distributed to eligible $CGPT stakers through a "Launchdrop" airdrop (rather than a sale) in May 2025.
• Matchain (MAT) & Blink Game AI (BLINK): Two Launchdrops in May 2025------one zk-rollup chain (MAT) and a gamified AI battle game (BLINK)------provided for free to community members to promote adoption.

Investment Return Performance

ChainGPT Pad is very active, with about 35 IDOs conducted in the past 6 months, raising approximately 1