David, Deep Tide TechFlow

On September 16, Circle's public chain Arc, created by Circle itself, will officially open its public mainnet.

This was originally a grand narrative belonging to traditional financial giants: the entire chain uses USDC as the gas fee and valuation benchmark, focusing on sub-second certainty and finality; the founding validator list prominently features BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard, Standard Chartered Bank, and DTCC. In previous presales, institutions bet $3 billion of FDV on the future of this chain.

However, with 48 hours left until the mainnet launch, the catalyst stirring the funds is actually unrelated to the institutional narrative, but more about the on-chain retail stakeholders' silent power struggle for token issuance rights. Current data supports this: on September 14, users' enthusiasm for positioning in the Arc chain ecosystem under Circle continued to heat up, with related USDC exchange premiums reaching as high as 1.8 times.

Institutions are responsible for building a clearing and compliance platform in the white paper, while degenerates are madly competing for the "profit-sharing rights" on this platform. The PONS on the Robinhood Chain has already demonstrated the wealth-building effect; whoever controls the token issuance entry can take the most lucrative fees.

Currently, Arc has opened early deployment to over a hundred institutions and ecosystem builders. On social media and various trading groups, what everyone is really fomo-ing over is the new launching pads and hopes to see a leading meme coin emerge.

However, on Arc, it seems like everyone is doing "the next Pump.fun," but the underlying funding pipelines are completely different. We have consolidated some critical information from the market, summarizing noteworthy launching pads below.

(Image source: Twitter user @TheMaran)

However, it must be clarified first, since Arc will open its public mainnet only on September 16, how are these launching pads, with transaction volumes often reaching tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, emerging in the community?

The answer lies in the underlying testing channels.

Arc has already opened a "private mainnet (early deployment environment)" to over a hundred institutions and ecosystem participants. Currently, the transaction data showcased by various lists all comes from this closed environment that hasn’t yet been opened to the public.

Correspondingly, these platform tokens are all issued on Arc's private mainnet, Chain ID 5042. This chain is genuinely operational, with contracts, pools, and transactions being truly deployed, but the access rights have not been opened to the public.

The "public mainnet" on September 16 is essentially unlocking the gate for the same chain. Therefore, these platform tokens will still exist after the 16th, as the pools continue; this is also why everyone is willing to preemptively position themselves.

Thus, these early data can only prove that "this launching pad's pipeline can function," which does not necessarily represent that it has reached the speculative density of a real market.

Understanding this premise, let's take a look at the different play styles and features of various launching pads currently on Arc.

Model 1: Issuing Tokens with Locked Pools, Rejecting Combined Curves

Representative Projects:

Tolly (@tollylabs)

ArcPad (@arcpad_meme)

This play style is the most straightforward, with no lengthy process of saturating the market cap internally and then "graduating" like Pump.fun. After the creator issues tokens, the full volume of tokens directly enters a permanently locked USDC liquidity pool, and trades can begin from the first block.

• Tolly (@tollylabs): Currently the firm with the most robust real transaction data in the pre-deployment environment. Its buy-side rate is about 1%, and it is precisely divided (around 64% to creators, 12% to holders' reward pools, 10% to the protocol, with the rest used for buyback and destruction).

Data snapshot: Cumulatively, about $1.8 million in transactions in the early environment, with its platform token $TOLLY reaching a market cap high of about $2.47 million.

Platform token TOLLY (Contract: 0xbc43ce8dec648ea298c4275559b81d6261c90b67)

• ArcPad (@arcpad_meme): The structure is cleaner. No internal market, the full supply directly forms a one-sided Uniswap V3 position locked in a fee locker, with a single-address counter-sabotage limit set at 2%.

Data snapshot: The price of cleanliness comes at the cost of extreme difficulty in cold starts. Early environment shows it only has about 15 tokens, with total transactions not exceeding $30,000. The official launch list shows about 20 coins, all around a $3,000 market cap, with individual transactions only in the range of ten to twenty dollars, basically in a state of no interest.

Model 2: Combined Curve Graduation Faction, the Classic Path of Pump.fun

Representative Projects:

Warp (@circlewarp)

Flipt (@Fliptfun)

This faction directly copies Pump.fun's strategy: tokens first trade in an internal combined curve, and once the market cap reaches the threshold, they "graduate" and liquidity migrates to DEX. The advantage is that cold starts for new coins have internal market support, while the disadvantage is that the graduation rate determines everything; the curve holds the bodies of those that never made it.

• Warp (@circlewarp): Currently the only curve launching pad on Arc that has completed the entire graduation process. A USDC-priced combined curve automatically migrates to its own WarpDex after reaching a market cap of about $69,000, with LPs burning. Another card is cross-chain: through Circle's CCTP protocol, it allows users to buy new coins on Arc with one click from USDC on Ethereum, Base, or Arbitrum, with zero bridge fees shown on the page.

Data snapshot: The official site shows it has launched 286 tokens, with cumulative transactions of $2.15 million. However, breaking it down, about 84% of the transactions come from its own platform token WARP, with only 1 coin successfully graduating over six weeks. The graduation threshold is relatively high for cold-start memes, which is its biggest issue.

Platform token WARP (Contract: 0x384c60f98ecd4c26345499345c03d677e40f115e), market cap around $870,000.

• Flipt (@Fliptfun): The mainnet isn’t up yet, but the testnet is running, and it is currently the most active in interactions. It has made a key change in the curve: buyers do not receive a readily sellable balance; instead, they gain a bonded position, with pool fees divided according to their shares upon graduation; wanting to exit means publicly queuing for 90 seconds, and anyone attempting large withdrawals will be visible to all. Dumping has shifted from hidden operations to open strategy.

Data snapshot: Graduation fundraising line around $6,375, graduation market cap about $30,000, curve trading fee 1.25%, with 0.75% going to bonder. The testnet window is 48 hours, and each wallet can claim 500,000 test USDC, with gold, silver, and bronze NFTs issued according to final rankings to be minted once the mainnet goes live.

Platform token: None.

Model 3: Social Bot Faction, Issue Tokens with a Single Tweet

Representative Project: Archemist (@Archemistdotfun)

This faction lowers the barrier for issuing tokens to a minimum. No need to open a website, just @ the bot on X, and a single tweet can complete creation, launch, and trading, with liquidity automatically locked.

Another card is the creator's revenue-sharing, which can be as high as 80% of the trading fees, clearly aimed at attracting token issuers.

Data snapshot: In the early environment, cumulative transactions amount to approximately $337,000, having launched about 49 tokens, with around 77% of the transactions depending on its own platform token ARCH. The homepage of the official site displays that it has partnered with blockchain explorer Blockscout for token information verification, each token's contract information can be directly verified on the explorer.

It is worth noting that at the time of writing, its official website counter shows zero transactions and tokens, likely having undergone a data reset before the mainnet switch; the reference value of early transaction data should be discounted.

Platform token: ARCH contract address and market value are not publicly verifiable, and need to be re-confirmed after the mainnet goes live.

Model 4: Uniswap V4 Faction, Writing Dividends into the Trading Layer

Representative Projects: ubi.fun (@ubidotfun), Minara (@minarafun)

This faction bets on Uniswap V4. The V4 hook mechanism allows launching pads to write dynamic fees, holder dividends, and automatic buybacks directly into the trading layer, no longer relying on token tax. The technical narrative is the newest among the factions, yet its current status is also the coldest.

• ubi.fun (@ubidotfun): Claims to be the only Uniswap V4 launching pad on Arc, with zero fees for creating tokens, trading fees divided between creators and eligible holders, aiming for "universal dividends for holders." The official site clearly states that there is currently no platform token.

Data snapshot: No platform token available. The official dynamic stream shows transactions mainly at the level of small purchases between dozens to two hundred dollars, with the latest launch being six days ago. Third-party statistics indicate it has only launched 3 tokens, with total transactions amounting to about $4,800, and at one point, the holder's reward pool only had $1.38. The mechanism looks beautiful on paper, but no funds are willing to enter to validate it yet.

• Minara (@minarafun): Also based on Uniswap V4, focuses on USDC native liquidity and low-friction token issuance, with rumors of "Circle Ventures backing" in the community, although the project party has not confirmed this, it should be treated as a rumor. The official site has launched, but the token list is currently mostly empty.

Data snapshot: No platform token available, no transaction data. It is crucial to note that third-party reviews point out that its rules allow creators to take up to about 80% of the shares at launch, which is unfriendly to buyers and worth monitoring once the mainnet launches.

Model 5: Coin-Stock Pairing and Others

Among the listings, there are two names that differ in play style and risk level from the above four factions and must be highlighted separately.

• Long.supply (@Longdotsupply): It does not do "meme vs. USDC," but "meme vs. stock tokens."

The play involves first bringing stock tokens (CRCL, NVDA, and even unlisted Anthropic) into Arc through its own cross-chain bridge, then letting memes pair with these stock tokens for trading.

The official site shows that its platform token LONG (Contract: 0x2164bb17a2d38c1b5170e987b2c0416df1efc752) has surged to a market cap of about $3.61 million, the highest among all launching pad platform tokens, with about $1.6 million in funds shown in the bridge.

However, a noteworthy concern is where these "stocks" come from. They are not compliant stock tokens like those on Robinhood, but self-minted certificates from this project; who holds the assets and whether real stocks can be redeemed have not been publicly answered, so further observation will be needed after the mainnet goes live.

• act.fun (@actfunxyz): A launching pad that hasn’t opened yet.

The timing of this one is impeccable. The platform is already running: its platform token ACT was presold entirely on its own platform, which just ended today (September 14), with both tiers of $30,000 goals fully filled, Architect tier FDV at $50,000 and Public tier FDV at $200,000.

The ACT contract has been announced (0x177b47be2782575284211A000EDA4112807288a5), with the official launch set for September 16, the same day the mainnet opens, with claims and refunds opening simultaneously. It effectively sells its platform token in a round before the mainnet opens.

However, on-chain code inspection shows that its contract Owner retains emergency withdrawal privileges. The full presale indicates genuine enthusiasm, yet before relinquishing permissions, the promise that "LPs will be locked" remains merely a promise.

Additionally, the page carries some AI coding vibes...

At this point in the rundown, it can be observed that all current transactions and market values are essentially rehearsals played out in a closed environment by a few hundred addresses that paid premiums to enter, and September 16 will be the real test.

Due to space limitations, there are some other promising projects that could not be extensively reviewed, currently, there are analysts in the community who have compiled ratings for the launching pads, providing a reference for everyone’s investment research.

(Image source: @Nick_Researcher)

Overall, for these pads, we can focus on several follow-up points concerning these projects:

First, observe which launching pad first sees independent transactions not related to platform tokens.

Currently, Tolly, Warp, and Archemist's volumes are deeply intertwined with their own platform tokens; whoever can first launch a meme unrelated to the platform token with its own liquidity turning over will be the true faucet.

Second, examine the fulfillment of promises.

The mainnet of Flipt, the LP locking and permissions surrender of act.fun, and aka.fun's "see you on the 16th," all these words will be verified or falsified within the next 48 hours.

Third, does the Arc chain itself drop the ball?

Whether the official RPC, explorer, Uniswap truly opens to the public, and whether USDC can flow smoothly in and out, are all unknowns; after seeing so many makeshift setups, even with top institutions backing, how it performs practically will still be seen on the day.

Lastly, as always, a reminder: All projects mentioned in this article are in extremely early stages, most contracts are unaudited, and pre-mainnet data does not represent the performance on the public mainnet. The risks in crypto projects are immense, please DYOR.