Tomorrow Arc is about to launch, and one detail deserves attention:

Uniswap Labs' Pools.trade is also entering the Arc ecosystem.

Many people may think: isn't this just another launchpad?

But if you place it within Uniswap's overall strategy, I think its significance goes far beyond a token issuance platform.

Because Uniswap is attempting to move from:

trading assets

to:

creating assets.

01 | What Exactly Is Pools.trade?

Many people hearing about Pools.trade for the first time assume it is a new project. It isn't.

Pools.trade is a launchpad launched by Uniswap Labs.

It was first deployed on Robinhood Chain, with a very clear goal:

help users quickly create tokens, and let those tokens subsequently flow into Uniswap's liquidity system. (AirdropAlert)

The old Uniswap flow:

The project team issues a token.

↓

Finds liquidity.

↓

Trades on Uniswap.

Uniswap was the last step.

But Pools.trade changed this flow:

Create a token.

↓

Pools.trade.

↓

Enter a Uniswap liquidity pool.

In other words:

Uniswap has started moving toward the front end of the asset lifecycle.

02 | Why Is Uniswap Building a Launchpad?

The answer is actually quite simple:

Whoever controls the asset issuance entry point controls future traffic.

PONS has already proven one thing: the biggest value of the meme market is not necessarily trading alone.

It is the token issuance entry point.

Why did Pump.fun take off?

Because it controlled:

who can issue memes.

who sees memes first.

who can trade in the early stage.

The launchpad itself is a traffic entry point.

After PONS exploded on Robinhood Chain, it also proved the potential of this model.

Massive token creation.

Massive trading.

Massive fees.

Eventually forming:

Issuance → Trading → Revenue → Ecosystem growth

a flywheel.

And what Uniswap sees is:

Why should I only wait for tokens to graduate before getting their trading?

Why can't I participate from the very first step?

So Pools.trade appeared.

03 | Are Pools.trade and PONS Competitors?

To some extent, yes.

Because both sides are competing for the same thing:

the meme issuance entry point.

The advantages of PONS:

  • A Robinhood Chain native project

  • First-mover advantage

  • An established community already formed

  • Proven the meme launchpad model

The advantages of Pools.trade:

  • The Uniswap brand

  • An enormous liquidity network

  • Uniswap V4 infrastructure

  • Wallet, app and API distribution capabilities

Simply put:

PONS is like a startup that suddenly went viral.

Pools.trade is like a major company with huge users and infrastructure entering the market.

But the two are not outright enemies either.

Because PONS's biggest success is also inseparable from Uniswap.

In the design of PONS V2, graduated tokens flow into Uniswap V4 liquidity pools.

So PONS creates the assets.

Uniswap takes over the liquidity.

This is also why, after PONS exploded, Uniswap Labs chose to buy PONS and said it hoped to build long-term alignment of interests. (The Defiant)

04 | How Has Pools.trade Performed on Robinhood Chain?

This is the part most worth observing.

After Pools.trade launched on Robinhood Chain in August, it quickly became PONS's biggest competitor. (KuCoin)

Early on it even drew large amounts of trading volume.

The reason is simple: the market is very sensitive to the "token issuance platform" entry point.

Whoever attracts more creators:

is likely to capture more trading.

But so far, PONS still dominates the launchpad market on Robinhood, with a share close to 80%.

This shows that a launchpad is not just about technology - there are also community, culture, and user habits.

05 | Pools.trade Coming to Arc May Matter Even More

Robinhood Chain is mostly memes, retail users, and token trading.

Arc is completely different - behind Arc stands Circle.

What it wants to build is USDC financial infrastructure, payments, RWAs, institutional assets.

So why does Uniswap still bring Pools.trade to Arc?

Because in the future, RWAs will also need an issuance entry point.

The future may not be about launching a meme.

It may be about issuing:

fund tokens.

bond tokens.

yield-bearing tokens.

stock tokens.

These assets equally need:

creation, trading, liquidity.

So Pools.trade may be more than a meme launchpad.

It looks more like an onchain asset issuance entry point.

06 | Will Pools.trade Have Its Own Token?

Pools.trade currently has no public issuance of an independent token.

But whether one could come in the future is a question many people care about.

Because almost every project has its own token.

Uniswap has UNI,

PancakeSwap has CAKE.

Raydium has RAY.

Launchpad-type protocols usually design some form of value capture.

So will Pools.trade issue its own token in the future?

Or will it simply bind directly to UNI, changing UNI's token model?

I actually think the latter has more headroom. Why?

Because Pools.trade is not an independent project - it belongs to the Uniswap ecosystem.

If in the future:

Pools.trade generates massive trading.

↓

Uniswap Protocol Fee increases.

↓

UNI Burn is pushed up.

Then value capture has already happened.

There is not necessarily a need to issue a new token.

07 | What If Pools Goes Cross-EVM?

This is the scenario I find most interesting to imagine.

Right now:

PONS: Robinhood Chain.

Pools: Robinhood Chain.

Arc:

about to join.

If in the future Uniswap pushes Pools to more EVM chains:

Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, BNB Chain.

Then in theory it can challenge every current meme launchpad.

Including Four.meme on BSC.

Because Four.meme's biggest advantage is being native to BNB Chain.

If Uniswap + Pools.trade enter BSC in the future.

Combining Uniswap liquidity + a huge brand + multi-chain distribution capabilities all at once.

Then the landscape of BSC meme launchpads could change.

But there is a catch here:

Four.meme already has a large Chinese-speaking community and BSC user base.

Competition among launchpads is not just about technology.

It is equally about users, culture, and community.

So in the short term we cannot simply say "Pools will replace Four.meme."

But in the long run, if Uniswap truly turns the launchpad into multi-chain infrastructure,

any single-chain launchpad will come under pressure.

Finally

I used to think Uniswap's biggest story was:

A decentralized exchange.

But now I increasingly feel that this positioning is too small.

Uniswap is attempting to cover:

asset issuance.

liquidity.

trading.

financial applications.

From Robinhood Chain to Arc.

From PONS to Pools.trade.

Step by step, it is becoming:

the infrastructure for onchain assets entering the market.

Future competition may not be about which meme pumps higher.

It may be about who controls the first step of an asset's birth.

Because whoever controls the issuance entry point

controls the next traffic entry point.