Uniswap v4 Launchpad: Launch a Token in Native ETH
Uniswap v4 lets a pool hold raw ETH instead of wrapped WETH. A v4 launchpad uses that to make token launches cheaper to trade and simpler to reason about, while keeping the LP locked so nobody can rug.
Updated August 7, 2026
What Changed in Uniswap v4
Uniswap v3 pools can only hold ERC-20 tokens, so every ETH pair actually trades against WETH, a wrapped IOU of ETH. Every buyer either wraps first or routes through a converter, and every seller unwraps at the end. It works, but it adds a hop of gas and a layer of confusion for newcomers who see WETH in their wallet and wonder what happened to their ETH.
Uniswap v4 removes that indirection. A v4 pool can hold native ETH directly: you send ETH, you receive the token, and there is no wrapping step anywhere in the flow. v4 also moved all pools into one singleton contract, which makes pool creation dramatically cheaper than deploying a fresh contract per pair the way v3 does.
For a launchpad, both changes matter. Cheaper pool creation means launching a token costs less. Native ETH means the number a buyer sees is the number that leaves their wallet, and trading fees accrue in real ETH rather than a wrapped token.
How a v4 Launchpad Launch Works
A v4 launchpad compresses the whole launch into one transaction. On Bubblepad it looks like this:
- The contract mints the full supply of your token. No hidden allocation, no team wallet.
- It opens a native ETH pool for the token on the Uniswap v4 singleton, at the starting valuation you chose.
- It seeds the pool with the entire supply as single-sided liquidity, so the market is live immediately.
- It locks the resulting LP position in a locker contract for 10 years. The liquidity cannot be withdrawn, by anyone, until the lock expires.
From the buyer's side nothing special is required: they swap ETH for the token exactly like any other Uniswap trade. From the creator's side, the trading fees the pool earns keep flowing: the locker lets anyone trigger a collection, and the fees split between the creator and the protocol's staking pool.
v4 vs v3 for Token Launches
If you are choosing between the two, the practical differences are:
- Gas: creating a v4 pool is a state update inside one shared contract, not a new contract deployment. Launches and swaps are cheaper.
- Native ETH: v4 pairs hold real ETH. v3 pairs hold WETH, and fees arrive as WETH that needs unwrapping before it is spendable ETH.
- Hooks: v4 pools can attach custom logic that runs on every swap. A transparent launchpad should use no hooks at all (the hook address should be zero), because hooks are also how malicious pools implement hidden taxes and blocklists.
- Maturity: v3 has years of battle testing and the deepest tooling support. v4 is newer, audited, and running at scale, but some third-party dashboards still index it less thoroughly.
Bubblepad launches on v4 by default on Base and keeps its earlier v3 launcher available. Both lock the LP for 10 years; the difference is purely the pool technology underneath.
What to Verify Before You Buy a v4 Launch
The v4 singleton makes verification slightly different from v3, but the checklist is the same spirit:
- The pool's hook address should be the zero address. A non-zero hook can tax, block, or manipulate every swap.
- The LP position should sit inside a public locker contract with a visible unlock date years away, not in the deployer's wallet.
- The fee split of the locker should be readable on-chain: who receives the creator share, and where the protocol share goes.
- The token contract should be a plain ERC-20 with no owner functions left, no mint function, and no pause switch.
Every Bubblepad token page links the pool, the locker, and the token contract so you can check all four in about a minute.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need WETH to buy a token on a Uniswap v4 launchpad?
No. v4 pools hold native ETH directly, so you swap plain ETH for the token in one step. No wrapping, no WETH balance appearing in your wallet.
Are Uniswap v4 hooks dangerous?
Hooks are just code that runs on every swap, and that cuts both ways. An honest pool that uses no hook (hook address zero) behaves exactly like classic Uniswap. A malicious hook can add hidden taxes or block sells, which is why launchpads that value transparency launch hookless pools.
Is launching on v4 cheaper than v3?
Yes, meaningfully. v4 pool creation is a write into one shared singleton contract instead of deploying a new pool contract, and swaps route with fewer token transfers because there is no WETH hop.
Can the liquidity still be locked on v4?
Yes. The LP position is represented as a position NFT, and a locker contract can hold it exactly as on v3. Bubblepad locks every v4 launch position for 10 years.