Welcome to our token series, helping Web3 founders navigate token propositions, from product to public markets. In this article, we cover what it really takes to plan a successful token launch, from traction and legal readiness to exchange timelines and campaign strategy.
A successful token launch doesn’t start with a whitepaper or end with a listing. It’s a full-stack strategy, and most founders are underprepared.
Over the past decade, we’ve helped hundreds of startups navigate this journey. That’s why we’re kicking off our Token Series: to give founders the real playbook and confidence to launch and manage tokens in today’s market.
In this article, Matt Law walks through what it really takes to get ready for a token launch; from traction and tokenomics to legal setup, market timing, exchange strategy, and campaign execution.
If you’re thinking about launching a token this year, this is where you start.
Two Things Every Token Project Must Have
To get on the radar of top exchanges, two things matter most: product traction and a real community.
Product Traction: Your Most Valuable Signal
Tier 1 exchanges like Binance and OKX prioritize on-chain activity and actual users. These are hard to fake, which is why they matter most. It means having a significant number of real users and demonstrating genuine interest in the solution built. Define your core metrics and build your growth strategy around them as early as possible.
Community Size: Social Proof Still Matters
While sometimes gamable, having large numbers of people on platforms like X, Telegram, and Discord acts as social proof, demonstrating that the project is relevant and important. Tier 2 exchanges often require 50K+ followers on X or Telegram before they even take a call. Have a plan to grow your audience and start executing it earlier than you think is necessary, ideally before significant partner conversations begin, to avoid being anchored as a “small project.”
Exchanges often view tokens as a product to engage their audiences and generate revenue through trading fees, which explains the importance of community size for them. Listing teams frequently check follower counts as a primary metric.
Token Launch Readiness: The Founder’s Checklist
Before you go public with your token plans, make sure you can answer these questions:
- Budget: Long gone are the days when launching a token gave you funds. Realistically, at a BARE MINIMUM you will need US$500K or more on hand to execute the launch campaign on Tier 2 exchanges. This budget is primarily allocated to the marketing campaign (paying suppliers, paid media) and the fiat or stablecoin component of market maker or exchange agreements.
- Product Status: Is your product live and does it have demonstrable traction? Ideally, you have a live product with users or a clear plan to reach thousands.
- Legal Setup: Have you established a token issuing entity? Has a legal firm reviewed your token economic principles and provided a letter stating that, in their view, it’s not a security? This is a hard blocker for most centralized exchanges as they prioritize not listing security tokens.
- Security: Do you have a plan for smart contract audits for your applications and the token itself? Be aware that obtaining audits requires a relatively long lead time, especially for new customers.
Community Growth Plan: Do you have a plan to grow your community towards approximately 100,000 followers?
Why Token Launches Are All About Perception AND Reality
When it comes to successful token launches, communication is key. The best token launches succeed because they manage two parallel stories:
- Perception: Demonstrating social proof, showing growth, and managing public image.
- Reality: The actual state and performance of your product, real traction, and proper setup.
Put simply, your job as a founder is to close the gap between the two.
Both perception and reality are critical both before and after the TGE. Building trustworthiness and reliability through consistent communication leading up to the launch is important. A practical way to do this is to aim for two to three good news stories published every single week in the approximately eight weeks leading up to the TGE, and continuing for about eight weeks afterward. The TGE is merely the starting point for building confidence in the project over the next few years.
Beyond simple follower counts, consider how many real people are genuinely interested and potentially considering participating in a token offering. It’s beneficial to develop a prospect list and implement a lead qualification process, potentially including KYC (Know Your Customer), to have a concrete idea of likely purchasers. Having thousands of people go through KYC can provide confidence, while a low number (ex: 250) might signal a need to delay. KYC is generally necessary for compliant token sales, either done directly or via a launchpad/exchange, but less common for airdrops, although some projects implement it for claiming rewards, which can cause backlash.
Plan Like a Product Team: From Discovery to Delivery
Launching a token isn’t a one-week event. It’s a product milestone, and it needs to be treated like one.
Once your foundation is in place, it’s time to plan your execution like a product launch.
- Work Back from a Launch Date: Most launches take longer than expected. Many teams think they’re eight weeks away for several months in a row. Pick a realistic date and work backwards to map key milestones across product, legal, marketing, and exchange readiness.
- Preparation vs. Delivery: Preparation includes setting up your token issuing entity, finalizing token design, and scheduling audits. Delivery begins once your campaign is locked in. It’s usually an 8-week runway leading up to your TGE.
- Key Workstreams to Cover: KPIs for product and community traction, legal and smart contract requirements (including audits), treasury management, vesting contracts, and token use case narratives for whitepapers and marketing.
Equally important is to keep your tokenomics flexible. Don’t commit too early. Announcing your tokenomics too soon can backfire if you need to change them due to investor feedback or evolving needs. Finalize when your strategy is clear and the pieces are in place.
Designing a Smart Go-to-Market Strategy
Your campaign needs to do more than generate hype. It needs to build trust, drive interest, and convert attention into participation.
Plan an 8-week run-up before your TGE to build the project’s story. Anchor your campaign around trust signals, product value, and progressive disclosure…not just the token.
Tactics that also work include quest-based community growth campaigns like Zeely to help you grow quickly while collecting data. Ambassador programs and KOL activations can amplify reach, but only if they align with your core messaging. Weekly rituals like AMAs, community calls and briefings help maintain rhythm and transparency. Your content should follow a clear arc: start with core value propositions, spotlight community use cases, and end with why the token matters.
Avoid over-indexing on vanity metrics. Build intrigue, narrative momentum, and real engagement that outlasts the TGE.
Timing, Market Dynamics, and Private Sales
When is the best time to launch? While opinions vary, here are some considerations that can help clarify the path forward for your project:
Exchange Timelines
If aiming for tier one exchanges, be aware of significant due diligence timelines. Binance, for example, is currently cited as having a roughly 10-week process. All necessary product, community, and legal metrics need to be in line before applying. Consider reaching out around eight weeks before a potential TGE.
When to Launch Your Token
The general consensus is to aim for the first half of a positive market cycle rather than the second half. This leverages positive sentiment for better performance and allows tokens to vest earlier, reducing later downward pressure. A common observation is that launches always take longer than expected; many projects believe they are about two months away from launch, but remain as such even weeks later.
Market Competition
The market is currently challenging due to the sheer number of projects being built and planning token launches. Every day CoinMarketCap is tracking in the region of 40,000 new tokens. This creates intense competition for mindshare. There’s an “arms race” for product and community traction to stand out. Even platforms focused on new listings like Gate are listing a high volume (ex: 100 tokens last month), but this is still a small fraction of projects wanting to launch.
Stakeholder Alignment
The rise of the meme coin narrative reflects dissatisfaction with large FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation) tokens from previous private sale rounds. People seek opportunities for quick gains (“generation wealth”) on DEXs and through meme coins. Launchpads are adjusting, avoiding projects with FDVs above US$20 million because their users were burned previously. The anti-VC sentiment fuels the meme coin focus. While meme coins are seen as a “PVP” (Player vs Player) game where most will lose money, a movement back to fundamentals and long-term thinking is anticipated, though timing is uncertain.
Private Sale Timing
If you’re doing a private round with seed investors, close it well before your launch. Overlapping investor lockups with public listings can stall momentum. Selling tokens at a discount with a lockup (private sale) and asking others to buy on the market simultaneously is not ideal. To ensure stability around the listing, aim to finish the private sale round as soon as possible before launch so there are enough net buyers in the market to support the initial circulating market cap.
Final Thoughts
Token launches are one of the most high-stakes moves a Web3 startup can make. They’re complex, competitive, and unforgiving. But, they are equally transformative when executed well. With the right preparation and strategy, you can stand out from the noise and deliver a launch that builds lasting momentum.
Stay tuned for the next editions of our Token Series, where we’ll go deeper into tokenomics design, exchange selection, and post-TGE operations.
Need Support?
We’ve helped hundreds of startups get token-ready, from legal structuring to exchange strategy and campaign execution. If you’re planning a launch and want to do it right, our Token Advisory team is here to help. Get in touch to learn how we can support your journey.
