Overview
Raydium is one of the oldest and largest decentralized exchanges on Solana. It launched in February 2021 and was originally built around Solana’s order book Serum, sharing its liquidity. After the collapse of FTX in November 2022 (FTX was Serum’s main backer), Raydium cut that link and continued as a pure AMM.
For years Raydium was where most new Solana tokens ended up: Pump.fun, the popular meme-coin launchpad, sent its “graduated” tokens to Raydium pools. In March 2025 Pump.fun launched its own DEX, PumpSwap, and Raydium answered with its own launchpad, LaunchLab. Today Raydium competes with PumpSwap, Orca, Meteora and others for Solana’s trading volume, and holds roughly 8–13% of it depending on the measure.
Swaps on Solana confirm in about a second and cost a fraction of a cent in network fees. You only need a Solana wallet such as Phantom, Solflare or Backpack.
Pool types
- Standard AMM (v4): the classic Raydium pool, with liquidity spread over all prices.
- CPMM: a newer constant-product pool that supports Token-2022 (Solana’s newer token standard) and does not need an order book market, so it is cheaper to create. Most new token pools use CPMM.
- CLMM: concentrated liquidity, where LPs choose a price range, similar to Uniswap v3 or Orca Whirlpools.
The swap screen routes your trade automatically, and many Solana users reach Raydium’s pools through the aggregator Jupiter without opening Raydium at all.
Other products
- LaunchLab: Raydium’s token launchpad. New tokens start on a bonding curve and move to a Raydium pool once they raise enough. Other launch platforms can plug into it. In September 2026, the launchpad StonkFun moved to LaunchLab and launches jumped from about 5,000 to over 150,000 in a month.
- Tokenized stocks: Raydium handles more than 90% of on-chain trading in tokenized stocks (such as xStocks) on Solana.
- Farms and staking: earn rewards on selected pools, or stake RAY.
- Perps: a perpetual futures interface built with a partner, for leveraged trading.
- Burn & Earn: lets token teams lock liquidity permanently while still collecting fees, a common trust signal for new tokens.
Fees
| Pool | Swap fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard AMM (v4) | 0.25% | 0.22% to LPs, 0.03% to RAY buybacks |
| CPMM | 0.25%, 1%, 2% or 4% | Set by the pool creator |
| CLMM | 0.01% – 2% | Lower tiers for stablecoins and majors |
| Network fee | Under $0.01 | Plus an optional priority fee when Solana is busy |
About 12% of swap fees across Raydium go to buying RAY on the open market. LaunchLab trades pay a separate platform fee, part of which also funds buybacks.
Watch out for high-fee pools: some new tokens are paired in 2% or 4% CPMM pools. The swap screen shows the pool fee; check it before you trade.
Rates at the time of writing (October 2026). The app shows the exact cost before you confirm.
RAY token and buybacks
Raydium’s buyback programme is one of the oldest in DeFi. Bought RAY is held at a protocol address (not burned or paid to stakers). In September 2026, thanks to StonkFun’s activity, buybacks reached about $4.7 million, the highest monthly total in over a year. RAY traded around $2.2 in mid-October 2026. Remember that Raydium’s recent growth leans heavily on one launchpad partner, which is a concentration risk.
Security
- December 2022 exploit: an attacker took control of the private key of a pool owner account and drained about $4.4 million from several pools. It was a key-management failure, not a flaw in the AMM math. Raydium used treasury funds to compensate affected LPs for a large part of the losses and tightened its key security.
- No major exploit since. The contracts are audited and covered by a bug bounty.
The biggest risk for Raydium users is not the protocol but the tokens. Thousands of new tokens launch every day; most lose nearly all their value, and many are scams (rug pulls, hidden mint or freeze authority). Before you buy, check:
- the contract address on the project’s official channels or on a site like CoinGecko;
- whether liquidity is locked or burned;
- whether the token still has mint or freeze authority (Raydium and most wallets show this).
Pros and cons
Pros
- One of the largest and most established Solana DEXs
- Very fast swaps with fees under a cent
- Three pool types, including concentrated liquidity
- LaunchLab and the leading venue for tokenized stocks on Solana
- Long-running RAY buyback programme funded by real fees
- Self-custodial, no KYC
Cons
- Huge number of risky and scam tokens on its pools
- High-fee (2% or 4%) pools can surprise traders
- Lost market share to PumpSwap since 2025
- Recent growth depends heavily on one launchpad
- 2022 exploit, although users were largely compensated
Raydium vs. alternatives
| Raydium | Orca | Meteora | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launched | 2021 | 2021 | 2023 (as Meteora) |
| Main strength | Token launches, tokenized stocks | Simple swaps, concentrated LP | Dynamic LP pools, launches |
| Concentrated liquidity | CLMM | Whirlpools | DLMM (bins) |
| Launchpad | LaunchLab | Wavebreak | Dynamic Bonding Curve |
| Major exploit | Dec 2022 (key theft) | None | None (2025 token controversies) |
Our verdict
Raydium is a core piece of Solana DeFi: fast, cheap, mature, and the go-to venue for new token launches and tokenized stocks on Solana. For swapping well-known Solana tokens, it works very well, especially through Jupiter.
The danger lies in what you trade. Most new tokens on Raydium are extremely risky. Stick to well-known tokens, verify every contract address, check the pool fee, and treat meme-coin trading as gambling with money you can afford to lose.
This review is for information only and is not financial advice. Crypto is volatile and you can lose money.