Expert VerifiedInside the Official Raydium App: Swaps, Pools, Farms and More
- Last Updated: 26 Aug 2026
-
Fact Checked
Our team recently fact checked this article for accuracy. However, things do change, so please do your own research.
Contributors:
A Tour of the Main Sections on the Official Raydium App
Written by Marcus Chen, Research Fellow. Reviewed by Dr. Sarah Mitchell, Blockchain Security Analyst. Updated August 26, 2026.
Research Notice: This guide is part of our fintech research series examining decentralized finance and blockchain infrastructure. It is intended for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
The official Raydium app groups several distinct features under one interface, and it is easy to see the labels without understanding what each one does. This tour walks through the main sections you would read about, explaining swaps, pools, farms, staking, and LaunchLab in plain terms. It describes them; it does not tell you to use them.
What are the main sections of the official Raydium app?
The main sections are swaps, liquidity pools, farms, staking, and a launch platform. Each one is a view onto the same Solana smart contracts rather than a separate service, and together they cover the core activities of an on-chain decentralized exchange. The table below gives a one-line summary of each.
| Section | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Swaps | Exchanging one Solana token for another on-chain |
| Liquidity pools | Holding token pairs that give swaps their depth |
| Farms | Distributing incentives to liquidity providers |
| Staking | Locking tokens such as RAY for incentives and governance |
| LaunchLab | A platform for launching new tokens on Solana |
Reading the sections as a set makes the design clearer. Pools create the liquidity that swaps consume, farms and staking distribute the incentives that attract that liquidity, and the launch platform is where new tokens can enter the ecosystem in the first place. The parts reinforce one another.
What is the swap section for?
The swap section is where one Solana token can be exchanged for another directly on-chain. It does not match buyers with sellers through an order book in the traditional sense. Instead it routes the trade against liquidity held in pools, using an automated market maker formula to set the price.
Historically Raydium integrated with the Serum central limit order book, so its pool liquidity could also serve order-book trades. After Serum's decline following the FTX collapse in late 2022, the ecosystem moved toward OpenBook. That history explains why some older descriptions mention an order book, even though the swap experience for most users is driven by the automated market maker.
What are liquidity pools and farms on Raydium?
Liquidity pools hold pairs of tokens that swaps trade against, and farms distribute incentives to the people who supply those pools. A pool provides the depth that makes trading possible, while a farm rewards liquidity providers, often in RAY, for keeping their tokens in a particular pool.
Raydium offers two pool designs. Standard constant product pools spread liquidity evenly across every possible price. Concentrated liquidity pools, known as CLMM, let a provider focus liquidity within a chosen price range, which can make capital more efficient but requires more active management. Both designs carry the risk of impermanent loss, where the value of deposited tokens can drift relative to simply holding them, and that risk is a normal part of providing liquidity rather than a flaw.
What does staking on Raydium involve?
Staking on Raydium involves locking a token, typically RAY, in exchange for incentives and a role in governance. It is distinct from providing liquidity, because staking does not require supplying a token pair to a pool. Instead it commits a single token to the protocol for a period.
RAY sits at the center of this. It is the protocol's native token and has a fixed maximum supply, commonly cited as 555 million RAY. Beyond staking, RAY is used for liquidity and farming incentives and for governance participation. Describing these roles is about how the token functions inside the system, not about whether acquiring it is worthwhile, which is a separate question this guide does not address.
What is LaunchLab?
LaunchLab is Raydium's token-launch platform, introduced in 2025, that lets new projects bring tokens to market on Solana. It is the modern successor to the project's earlier launch tooling, historically called AcceleRaytor, and it sits alongside the exchange features rather than replacing them.
The purpose of a launch platform is to give a new token an initial venue and liquidity so it can begin trading. It is fair to note the risk here plainly. New token launches attract scam or low-quality projects, and the presence of a launch on any platform is not an endorsement of a token. Researching a token's mint and its team before trusting it remains the reader's responsibility, whatever tooling was used to launch it.
How to read through the main sections of the Raydium app: step by step
This is a reading tour rather than a set of trading instructions. Following it in order builds an accurate mental model of how the sections relate, using the project's documentation as the primary source and public on-chain data where it helps.
Step 1: Read the swap section
Start with the swap section and read how it lets one Solana token be exchanged for another directly against on-chain liquidity. Understanding this first makes the role of pools much easier to grasp.
Step 2: Review the pools section
Move to the liquidity section and understand how pools hold pairs of tokens that provide the depth swaps trade against. This is where the two pool designs, standard and CLMM, become relevant.
Step 3: Look at the farms section
Read the farms section to see how it distributes incentives to people who supply liquidity to particular pools. Farms are the link between liquidity and the rewards that attract it.
Step 4: Read the staking section
Study the staking section to learn how locking tokens such as RAY relates to incentives and governance participation. Notice that staking differs from providing a token pair to a pool.
Step 5: Explore LaunchLab
Finish with LaunchLab and read how it functions as a platform for launching new tokens on Solana. Reading it last places the launch tooling in the context of the whole exchange. Reading the sections in this order also builds a mental map of how the parts connect: swaps introduce the pools, the pools explain where farm and staking rewards come from, and the launch tooling shows where new tokens enter that same system. None of this requires you to interact with anything; the goal is simply to recognize each area and understand its purpose before deciding whether it is relevant to you. Approaching an unfamiliar decentralized app this way, section by section, is a habit that transfers to almost any protocol you encounter later.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to hold RAY to look at these sections?
No. You can read every section of the app and its documentation without holding RAY. The token is used for staking, farming incentives, and governance, but understanding how the sections are organized requires only that you read them.
Are all Raydium pools the same type?
No. Raydium offers standard constant product pools and concentrated liquidity pools known as CLMM. Standard pools spread liquidity evenly across all prices, while CLMM pools let liquidity be focused within a chosen price range, which changes how the two behave.
Is LaunchLab the same as the older AcceleRaytor tooling?
They serve a related purpose but are not identical. AcceleRaytor was Raydium's earlier launch tooling, while LaunchLab is a token-launch platform introduced in 2025. Both help projects bring tokens to market, and this article describes their purpose rather than any investment potential.
Which wallets connect to the sections of the app?
Raydium works with Solana wallets such as Phantom or Solflare, since the app runs on Solana and uses the SPL token standard. The application is non-custodial, so a connected wallet keeps control of its own keys throughout.