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Getting started4 min read

What is an NFT launchpad?

A launchpad turns art into a collection people can mint. What KURV adds, a Vault included, and how to judge a launchpad before you use one.

KURV teamAlso in Español, Português (Brasil)

A Max Cat card lifting off a round launch pad on a cone of mint light, a yellow folder of art files on one side and a small vault door on the other.
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“Launchpad” gets used a lot in NFTs. It’s the tool that turns a folder of art into a collection people can actually mint and trade. KURV’s own pitch is “Launch NFTs like a meme coin”: make launching quick enough that the art, not the tech, is the hard part. Here’s what a launchpad does and how to judge one.

The jobs a launchpad does

Turning art into a collection takes several jobs:

  1. A smart contract for the collection, which tracks who owns which piece.
  2. Building the pieces, from layers or finished art.
  3. Metadata for every piece.
  4. Hosting the files somewhere that’ll last.
  5. A mint page where people can mint.
  6. Sale settings: price, coin, phases, limits.
  7. Somewhere to trade after mint.

A launchpad bundles all of that.

Without a launchpad

You’d write a contract or hire someone to, generate the pieces yourself, upload files, build a website with a mint button and get collectors to trade somewhere else. That’s slow, costly and easy to get wrong, and mistakes in contracts can’t be fixed after deployment.

How KURV does each job

  • Contract: every collection launched on KURV gets its own contract and its own Vault, on the chain the creator picks (KURV runs on testnet today, on Base Sepolia and Solana Devnet).
  • Building: three ways in, layers, finished art (art folder plus metadata.json), or bringing a collection already on Base. KURV’s Studio runs in the browser for free.
  • Metadata: built for you from layers, or from your metadata.json.
  • Hosting: publishing goes to IPFS, with a fingerprint of the build.
  • Mint page: each collection gets its own page on testnet.kurv.fun.
  • Sale settings: a seven-step wizard covers supply, coin, mint share, royalty (5 to 10%) and phases. Sale methods are fixed price, mystery mint and rising price. One signature launches it.
  • Trading: a built-in market running on Seaport, with an Explore page.

What’s different about KURV

  • A Vault for every collection, which buys pieces back from holders whenever it holds money.
  • Royalty split: 50% creator, 25% the collection’s Vault, 25% KURV. KURV adds no marketplace fee.
  • Easy login: Google, Apple, email, Base, X or Telegram, with a wallet made for you.
  • Fixed settings: supply, coin, mint share and royalty stay fixed for the life of the collection, which collectors can rely on.

A worked example

Ana has a folder of hand-drawn frog layers. She logs in on testnet.kurv.fun, opens Studio, drops in the layers and looks through the generated frogs. She opens the wizard, picks supply, USDC as the coin, her mint share, a royalty, and two phases. She publishes, which sends the art to IPFS, signs once, and the collection launches with its own contract, Vault and page. She didn’t write any code.

Judging a launchpad, step by step

  1. Who holds the contract’s power? Can settings change after launch?
  2. Where do files go? Somewhere lasting, or a private server?
  3. What happens after mint? Is there a market?
  4. How is money split? Creator, platform, anything else?
  5. What are the risks? On KURV: contracts can have bugs, USDC issuers can freeze addresses, and Freeze makes the link to your files permanent, not the files themselves.

Who can launch on KURV

Launching needs an invite code. Apply at kurv.fun/apply. On testnet today, minting and trading need one too. Browsing does not.

Launchpad vs marketplace

People often mix these up. A marketplace is where existing pieces get bought and sold. A launchpad is where a collection gets created and first minted. Some platforms are only one; KURV is both. A collection launched on KURV is minted from its KURV page and then trades on KURV’s market, with the same Vault and royalty rules throughout. If you bring a collection that’s already on Base, it can trade on KURV’s market too, at its own royalty and without a Vault.

What a launchpad can’t do for you

It can’t make the art good, find collectors who care or tell the story of your collection. Those parts stay with the creator. Planning your collection before you draw and Building a community around your collection cover that side.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing a launchpad by hype instead of what happens after launch.
  • Assuming settings can change later.
  • Ignoring where files are hosted.
  • Thinking you need code. On KURV you don’t.
  • Skipping the test build.

FAQ

Do I need to code? No. Bring layers or finished art.

How do I get access to launch? Apply at kurv.fun/apply for an invite code.

Is KURV only a launchpad? It’s also a market, and every collection launched on it has its own Vault.

Which chains? KURV runs on testnet today, on Base Sepolia and Solana Devnet, where coins are free and nothing has value.

Where to go next

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