In 2024, over 5,000 tokens were launched every single day. In 2017, the number was closer to five per week.

On the other hand, back then, all it took was a whitepaper and a decent website to raise millions. Today, even the most hyped projects struggle to retain users beyond the first month.

But that’s not failure. It’s progress. The era of speculation is giving way to an era of strategy.

In 2025, launching a token means navigating regulations, filtering out Sybil attacks, rewarding real contributors, and proving your product works — all before your token even hits the market.

But if you get it right, you have yourself a long-term winner.

Before we dive in, let’s rewind — not out of nostalgia, but to learn from the turning points that shaped today’s most innovative strategies.

1.1 A short history of token launches

In the early days, launching a token was chaotic, unpredictable, and often wildly successful — at least in the short term. A compelling whitepaper, a placeholder website, and a few Telegram hype rounds were enough to raise millions. 

• Ethereum (2014) raised $18.4 mil via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), which in hindsight looks modest but set a precedent for programmable money and onchain coordination.
• Lisk (2016) collected 14,000 BTC (~$1.2 bil in 2025 terms), making it the largest raise of its era at that time.
• Tezos (2017) raised over $230 mil — and then spent years locked in governance disputes and litigation.
• EOS (2017) famously raised $4.1 bil without a finished product.

That era defined an entire generation of crypto fundraising but also exposed its risks. 

Today, the token launch landscape bears little resemblance to its turbulent origins. For Web3 founders, tokens have evolved far beyond simple fundraising tools. They now represent products, brands, governance layers, and liquidity mechanisms, all integrated into a single, strategic design.

1. The ICO boom (2017–2018)

By 2017, ICOs had become crypto’s default launch model. It was a gold rush. Projects raised hundreds of millions in days, often without a product, a team photo, or a roadmap longer than a blog post.

At first, it felt like a breakthrough. Retail investors could finally get in early. Founders could skip venture capitalists (VCs) entirely. Tokens flowed freely.

But underneath the momentum were deep cracks.

According to studies from EY and Boston College:

• 86% of tokens from the 2017 boom fell below their listing price within a year.
• 30% lost nearly all their value.
• Over 80% were eventually abandoned, hacked, or outed as scams.​

The ICO era gave Web3 its first massive wave of funding and its first big reputational crisis.

It democratized access, but it also opened the floodgates to dilution, regulatory backlash, and investor disillusionment. That collapse set the stage for the next wave of launch design — one that traded speed for trust.

2. The IEO phase (2019–2020)

Centralized exchanges (CEXs) stepped in with Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs). Projects gained access to verified users and compliance-friendly infrastructure, but at the cost of decentralization. IEOs reintroduced gatekeepers and limited community control over launch terms. Notable examples include Ethereum, Tezos, and Lisk.

3. The DeFi-native renaissance (2021–2023)

As Ethereum scaled and decentralized finance (DeFi) grew, projects embraced decentralized launch mechanics: Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs), liquidity bootstrapping pools (LBPs), and fair launches through airdrops. These methods favored community participation but also suffered from gas wars, Sybil attacks, and short-term incentives. Notable examples include Balancer’s LBP for Pendle, Yearn Finance’s fair launch, and BadgerDAO’s airdrop model.

4. Strategic stacks and onchain infrastructure (2024–2025)

Token launches in 2024 and 2025 mark a clear turning point in how Web3 projects approach token distribution. Where past models emphasized speed and speculative momentum, today’s leading launches are defined by intentionality, cross-ecosystem coordination, and long-term alignment. Recent examples showcase this evolution, even as they encounter new challenges.

➡️ Celestia (2023) rolled out a modular, cross-ecosystem airdrop that targeted Ethereum users, Cosmos stakers, and open-source contributors. Over 190,000 wallets received rewards based on real contributions via GitHub commits, validator participation, and more, reinforcing the project’s modular vision. This wasn’t just a marketing event, but a carefully coordinated alignment of incentives across ecosystems.

➡️ zkSync (2024) executed one of the largest Layer 2 (L2) airdrops to date, allocating ~20% of its token supply to nearly 700,000 wallets. However, it faced heavy criticism for a lack of transparency, perceived unfair allocation, and post-airdrop volatility — highlighting how scale alone doesn’t guarantee community trust.

➡️ Kaito AI (2025) experimented with token-based eligibility, allocating ~20% of its supply to early non-fungible token (NFT) holders and contributors. Unlike zkSync, Kaito maintained post-launch momentum and price stability, though some concerns around transparency and vesting mechanics were voiced.

This strategic shift is also visible in the rise of platforms like Legion and Echo, which are actively rethinking the infrastructure for early-stage token distribution (more on them in section 2.4).

➡️ Legion employs an onchain reputation layer to determine token eligibility. By scoring user contributions across code, governance, and community activity, it filters access for those genuinely aligned with a project’s goals.

➡️ Echo, on the other hand, emphasizes transparent co-investment. It enables everyday users to join vetted deals alongside institutional backers, creating fairer fundraising dynamics while preserving regulatory guardrails.

You received a small taste of the different token launch strategies. In the chapters ahead, you’ll discover the broader redefinition of who gets access, how trust is built onchain, and what sustainable ownership looks like in the next era of Web3.

📚 To understand the critical differences and uniqueness of the various models, read Demystifying Token Launches: ICOs, IEOs, and IDOs Explained.

1.2 Token launches are more than a funding tool

In 2025, a token launch has become a multidimensional coordination mechanism for Web3 ecosystems. At Onchain, we approach token launches not as isolated events, but as a system-level architecture that defines a protocol’s trajectory. 

Why it matters

Today, tokens act as governance frameworks, community tools, brand infrastructure, and economic engines, all rolled into a single launch strategy. This shift changes who participates, how value flows, and what success looks like in Web3.

From our extensive stakeholder interviews and surveys, one theme stands out clearly: Launching a token today means designing an ecosystem — not just raising capital.

🔍 Tokens today function across five foundational layers:

• Economic layer (value accrual, supply dynamics, utility)
• Distribution logic (airdrop models, NFT eligibility, fair pricing)
• User onboarding (wallet UX, reputation systems, Sybil defense)
• Regulatory scaffolding (jurisdiction, legal wrappers, disclosures)
• Narrative framing (vision, transparency, and community trust)

These layers are not optional — they’re foundational. Ignoring one often leads to failure in others. The evolution of token launches has made interdisciplinary design essential: Legal, product, community, and marketing teams must now co-own the launch process from the very beginning. 

Why now?

The token market has matured. Speculation alone no longer drives adoption.

• Regulators are enforcing clearer rules.
• Users are savvier, demanding transparency and utility.
• Founders are expected to build more than hype — they must prove sustainability and intent from the outset.

The launch itself has become a credibility test, signaling how well a project understands the Web3 landscape and how seriously it takes its long-term roadmap.

What’s ahead in this report

This report breaks down the full lifecycle of modern token launches, with tactical insights and case-based analysis:

• Chapter 2 maps the current token launch strategy landscape across sectors like DePIN, DeSci, RWAs, DeSoc, and stablecoins.
• Chapter 3 dives into real-world case studies, revealing what separates sustainable launches from short-lived hype cycles.
• Chapter 4 explores global regulatory frameworks and identifies the most founder-friendly jurisdictions.
• Chapter 5 looks forward, from AI-assisted launch tools to reputation-based investing platforms like Echo and Legion.

Key questions we answer

• What are the most effective launch models in 2025, and how do they compare to earlier cycles?
• How can founders design token distributions that maximize alignment and sustainability?
• What role will reputation systems and community-first fundraising play in the next generation of launches?
• And how can teams align liquidity, governance, compliance, and trust from day one?

🔬 Let’s dive in.