Crypto glossary
Fair launch
A fair launch is a token launch with no pre-mine, private sale or insider allocation, so everyone can acquire the token on the same terms from the start.
In a fair launch, no tokens are reserved for founders or investors before the public can participate. Supply is distributed through mining, liquidity mining, open minting or a public bonding curve from the first block. Bitcoin is the classic example, and 2020's DeFi wave produced fair launches such as Yearn's YFI, whose creator kept no tokens for himself.
The idea appeals because it avoids the insider overhang of venture-backed tokens and spreads ownership widely from the outset. Memecoin launchpads in particular market themselves as fair launch platforms, since anyone can buy from the bonding curve at the same price schedule as the creator.
In practice, 'fair' is relative. Developers and bots with faster infrastructure often grab a large share in the first seconds, creators may buy through hidden wallets, and early miners of a fair-launched chain can accumulate huge holdings. The label does not make a token safe or valuable; it only describes how the initial supply was offered.
Example
A memecoin is created on a bonding-curve launchpad with no team allocation, but blockchain analysis later shows that wallets funded by the deployer bought 30% of the supply in the first block.