How usdpad actually works.

Overview

usdpad is a Solana launchpad where the default market is priced in dollars. Meteora launches use a Dynamic Bonding Curve quoted in USDC; pump.fun launches use SOL and hold no dollar reserve.

Three rules shape everything on the site:

• Say the quote asset. Every card and page shows whether a token trades against USDC on Meteora or SOL on pump.fun.
• Read, don't claim. Every reserve we show is read from Solana and links to Solscan.
• No invented backing. Curve liquidity is never called collateral. What a contract enforces, and what it doesn't, is labeled.

The USDC bonding curve

A bonding curve is an automatic market maker with no order book and no one adding liquidity. Buyers pay USDC and receive tokens; sellers return tokens and receive USDC; the price climbs as supply is bought.

• Starting market cap: 2,000 USDC.
• Graduation: at 34,000 USDC market cap (about 6,600 USDC in the pool) it moves to Meteora DAMM v2 and trades on there.
• Trading fee: 2% per trade, split evenly between the creator and usdpad. It is set in the public pool config.
• Supply: 1,000,000,000 tokens, no mint authority, metadata frozen at launch.

The USDC buyers pay in stays inside the pool as its quote reserve. It leaves only through sells or graduation. The creator has no withdraw.

Backing and reserves

Each Meteora token page has a Backing box: the pool's live USDC reserve, its pool address and a Solscan link so you can check it yourself.

• What it is: the USDC the token's bonding-curve pool holds right now.
• What it isn't: a redemption price or a price floor enforced by a contract.
• Price vs. reserve: the market price moves with trading. A USDC-quoted token is not price-stable, so the two are always shown apart.

Redemption roadmap

Real backing, where burning a token pays out its share of a USDC reserve by contract, needs its own on-chain vault program. That program must hold USDC per token, block creator withdrawals that would break what it owes, and handle burn-and-pay in one step.

That program is on the usdpad roadmap. Until it is built, audited and verified, no token on usdpad is presented as redeemable. When it ships, redemption will appear on token pages as a real transaction you can sign. It will never appear as a badge first.

Wallet signing

Your connected Solana wallet is the creator, payer and signer on both platforms. Keys never leave it.

• The market and any dev buy are created in a single transaction.
• A launch shows as live only after its signature confirms and the market account exists on Solana.
• There is no launch wallet, deposit address or custody step, so nothing can get stuck with usdpad.

Launching, step by step

1. Token. Name, ticker, description, links and a picture. The preview updates as you type. Nothing is sent yet.
2. Market. Meteora (USDC) or pump.fun (SOL).
3. Dev buy. Optional: USDC on Meteora, SOL on pump.fun. Leave 0 to skip.
4. Sign. Your wallet pays and signs. When Solana confirms, you get the token address and its usdpad page.

Your funds. No deposit or withdrawal step exists. Anything you don't spend stays in your wallet.

Links, logos and metadata

• Your token's link. If you leave the website blank, metadata points at usdpad.fun/token?address=<mint>, the live token page.
• Pictures. Images and metadata JSON are pinned to IPFS where possible, so explorers and wallets can load them without usdpad.
• Permanent. Metadata is written at creation and can't be edited later. Check the name, ticker and picture before you sign.

The token page

Every launch gets the same page:

• Header: picture, name, ticker, copyable mint, market and launch time.
• Stats: market cap, liquidity, 24h volume, buys and sells, trading fee.
• Backing: the live USDC reserve, progress to graduation, pool and Solscan links.
• Chart: DexScreener or GeckoTerminal, switchable.
• Buy / Sell: from your own wallet. Jupiter routes the trade; a brand-new market Jupiter hasn't indexed yet trades straight against the curve.
• Creator fees: the creator can claim their half of the curve fee from the same page.

Market numbers come from DexScreener, so a token a few minutes old shows dashes until its first trades are indexed.

Discover, Activity and Reserves

• Confirmed only. A launch is listed after its transaction confirms. The pinned project card is editorial and counts toward nothing.
• Tabs: New (latest first), Trending (24h volume), Recent (trades in the last hour). Trending and Recent stay empty until real trades exist.
• Activity lists confirmed launches as they land.
• Reserves lists every Meteora pool's live USDC with on-chain links.

Fees and costs

• Launch: no usdpad fee. Your wallet pays Solana rent and network fees (about 0.02-0.03 SOL) plus any dev buy.
• Trading: 2% per trade on the curve, half to the creator and half to usdpad.
• After graduation: the DAMM v2 pool charges a fixed 1% fee. Its liquidity is permanently locked, half on the creator's side and half on usdpad's.
• pump.fun launches follow pump.fun's own fee schedule.

Risks and limits

usdpad makes reserves visible; it does not make trading safe. Most tokens go to zero. A USDC reserve inside a curve is not a promise of value, and until the redemption vault ships no contract lets you swap a token for its backing. On-chain activity is permanent. Never put in more than you can afford to lose.