Token launches and launchpad infrastructure, explained

Instant DEX token launches

Instant launch is the main token creation flow on based bid. A token goes live directly on the selected DEX without upfront liquidity or a separate graduation step.

Choose the network, DEX, quote asset, token supply, and a custom starting market cap. Optional controls include Fee Builder routes, team allocations, vesting, and launch protections. Supported flows also offer initial-buy allocation and buy airdrop tools to distribute launch purchases across participants. The builder shows the options available for the selected network and DEX.

Boards: create your own launchpad without coding

You do not need to build an app or integrate an API to run your own launchpad. Use the visual Boards UI to create a branded launchpad on based bid for your community, business, or project.

Set your board's identity, who can publish launches, available launch types, launch rules, and revenue settings. A board gives its community a dedicated launch channel and lets its owner participate in configured launch revenue.

Boards use the same underlying launch infrastructure as based bid. You can start entirely through the UI and later connect that board to your own product through OpenBid without rebuilding it.

OpenBid: integrate launch infrastructure into your product

OpenBid makes based bid's launch infrastructure available inside other products. Use the TypeScript SDK or API to bring token creation, launch flows, Fee Builder, and revenue routing into your own app, website, protocol, or launchpad.

An integration can use the same board identity, publishing access, launch rules, and revenue settings as the Boards UI. Teams can keep their own product experience while using based bid's underlying launch engine, rather than building launch infrastructure from scratch.

Infrastructure users also benefit from based bid's Uniswap-whitelisted hook deployments. When a Board or OpenBid integration launches a pool using the supported Based Hook on a supported Uniswap v4 chain, it inherits that hook's Uniswap interface compatibility without a separate hook-whitelisting request for each project.

The visual interface, SDK, API, and agent skill are different ways to use the same infrastructure. Use the Boards UI for a no-code launchpad, the SDK or API for a custom product integration, and the agent skill for compatible AI-agent workflows. Supported features depend on the selected network and integration path.

Liquidity bootstrapping pools (LBPs)

An LBP gives a token a price discovery phase before it graduates to a DEX market. It is an alternative to going live directly through an instant launch.

Choose a custom graduation market cap, pool duration, DEX liquidity settings, and optional Fee Builder routes. The graduation target sets the market cap the pool aims to reach before moving to the selected DEX. Review the pool's graduation settings before launching.

Pre-market token presales

A pre-market launch is a public token presale for teams that want to raise project capital and fund initial DEX liquidity in the same raise. It brings project funding and the liquidity needed to start trading into one launch.

Set custom market-cap-based raise targets, sale supply, and how much of the raise goes toward opening liquidity. The maximum target defines the intended DEX launch valuation at a full raise. DEX trading begins after the configured raise and finalization conditions are met.

Reserve part of the token supply for the creator or team and assign locks or vesting schedules to those allocations. This controls when the reserved supply becomes transferable; it is separate from the presale contribution schedule and the permanent liquidity lock.

Custom market caps across all launch types

Instant launches, LBPs, and pre-market launches all support custom market-cap settings, rather than restricting projects to preset values. Enter your own value within the selected launch flow's supported limits.

For an instant launch, choose the token's starting market cap. For an LBP, choose its graduation market-cap target. For a pre-market, configure market-cap-based raise goals and the target valuation for opening on the DEX. A market cap is a token valuation, not the amount of capital raised or the cash available in the liquidity pool.

Token locks and vesting for initial buys and reserved supply

Lock or gradually release token allocations instead of making the full amount transferable at launch. In supported initial-buy flows, schedules apply to the creator and contributor allocations from the initial buy. For pre-market launches, reserve creator or team supply and configure release schedules for those allocations without requiring an initial buy.

Choose a simple time lock to release the protected amount at one unlock date, or gradual vesting with an optional launch unlock, a cliff, a release interval, and a total vesting duration. Each schedule belongs to a configured recipient and cannot exceed that recipient's available allocation.

These are configurable token-supply release schedules, not permanent liquidity locks. Only the allocations assigned a schedule are locked or vested; other circulating tokens and presale buyers' allocations are not automatically covered.

Permanently locked launch liquidity

All liquidity created through based bid's instant launches, LBP graduations, and pre-market finalizations is permanently locked. That launch liquidity is not available for the team to withdraw later.

Liquidity locking is separate from team-token locks and vesting, which have their own allocation and release settings. It does not lock traders' tokens, freeze prices, or guarantee returns. This applies to liquidity created by the launch flow, not unrelated liquidity positions added by third parties.

Fee Builder: trading fees that support the project

On Uniswap v4, Fee Builder is powered by Based Hook, a Uniswap-whitelisted hook. Whitelisting allows supported pools using the hook to be traded through Uniswap's interface, so programmable fees do not require projects to rely only on a separate trading frontend. The hook adds fee logic to the pool without changing the token contract. Fee Builder is an optional launch or pool feature; its implementation depends on the network and DEX.

Route project trading fees to creator revenue, treasury, holder rewards, buybacks and burns, liquidity, or custom recipients. Fees are collected from swaps rather than separate token-sale transactions. Supported fee settings and recipients can be updated without redeploying the token or pool.

Fee Builder fees are configured separately from the DEX's native trading fee. Rewards and payouts depend on the enabled routes, eligibility settings, and actual trading activity. Use the fee calculator to compare splits and model revenue from a chosen trading volume.

What Uniswap hook whitelisting means for your launch

Uniswap v4's protocol allows custom hooks, but deploying a hook does not automatically make its pools supported by Uniswap's trading interface. A custom-hook pool can exist onchain while remaining unavailable to trade through that interface. Hook whitelisting addresses this interface-compatibility barrier; it is not permission to deploy on the protocol itself.

Based Hook is whitelisted across all Uniswap v4 chains supported by based bid. Pools launched using those supported hook deployments can be traded through Uniswap's interface while retaining Fee Builder and the configured hook features. Projects do not need a separate custom-hook integration or hook-whitelisting request for each token.

This advantage is shared by direct based bid launches, branded Boards, and products built with OpenBid's SDK or API. Infrastructure users launch through the same supported hook deployments, so they can offer programmable token launches with Uniswap interface compatibility built in.

Other platforms can trade the tokens or route through their pools when they support the relevant chain, pool, and hook. Uniswap whitelisting does not automatically add support to every third-party interface, endorse a token, or override configured launch restrictions. Actual trading still depends on liquidity, routing support, and the pool's trading rules.

Hook-based launch protections and trading controls

Supported hook-enabled launch flows offer optional protections alongside Fee Builder. Configure an opening protection period, maximum buys per wallet origin, and public or whitelist-only launch access.

Choose either trade-size-based tiered fees or volatility-based dynamic fees where supported. Tiered fees adjust the fee for qualifying buy and sell sizes; dynamic fees respond to volatility with a configured decay period. Available controls and when they take effect depend on the launch type, network, and DEX. LBP post-bonding fee rules apply after graduation, not during the LBP sale.

Use restrictions deliberately: whitelist-only access may trigger scanner warnings while public buying is blocked. These controls do not guarantee protection from bots, losses, or abusive trading, and are separate from token locks and vesting.

Based Hook for existing tokens

Based Hook is the Uniswap-whitelisted v4 hook behind Fee Builder on Uniswap v4. Hook Launch lets an existing or newly created token use it when deploying a new supported pool, without changing the token contract. The hook is attached at pool creation, not retrofitted onto an existing pool.

Choose the token, quote asset, pool settings, fee routes, and supported hook-based trading protections in the Hook Launch flow. Compatibility depends on the selected token, network, and pool configuration.