Launching a token on Elysium
Ascend is the launchpad we work with. This page follows their litepaper from September 2026, and some of the numbers can still change before launch.
Ascend
A launchpad for Elysium that keeps working for a token after launch day. There is no Ascend token: the revenue goes to HYPE, KNTQ and the projects themselves.
- Tokens go straight into a pool paired with USDC (or a supported tokenized real-world asset), with no bonding curve first.
- Every trade of the token pays a 1% fee. The deployer gets a quarter of it, or half if Ascend approves them as an active creator.
- What's left is split evenly between buying HYPE and buying KNTQ, and most of the KNTQ is burned.
- HYPE staked through Ascend keeps earning as kHYPE, and that yield buys tokens of Ascended projects for the stakers.
From launch to perps
- 01
Launch
The token goes live in an Ascend pool against USDC. Ascend sets up the pool and its liquidity.
- 02
Ascended
Tokens that pass Ascend's checks on market cap, holders and volume, with no signs of coordinated buying, get buybacks and a place on the Ascend homepage.
- 03
HyperCore spot
Ascend helps with the listing on Hyperliquid's order books and seeds the first liquidity. Reaching this step isn't guaranteed.
- 04
HIP-3 perps
Once the spot market holds up, a perp market through Kinetiq's HIP-3 venue.
Where $100 of fees goes
Ascend's own example from the litepaper, before execution costs. Swaps also pay a separate swap fee, not set yet: it funds referrals (20% to the referrer as a base rate) and the rest joins the same split.
What you get for staking
HYPE you deposit becomes kHYPE, Kinetiq's liquid staking token, so you keep your HYPE exposure. On top of that:
Ecosystem tokens
Your staking yield buys tokens of Ascended projects, which are airdropped to you in proportion to your stake.
HYPE
A share of the 10% of HYPE that Ascend buys for stakers. Ascend NFTs increase your share of this part only.
KNTQ
Airdropped at the end of each season, based on what you staked, traded and held on Ascend.
Better referral rate
Large stakers can get more than the base 20% on the swap fees of people they refer.
No lockup on Ascend's side. Turning kHYPE back into HYPE goes through Kinetiq's withdrawal delay, or a swap at market price.
NFTs
500 free-mint NFTs are planned. Tiers depend on how much you stake, and they only boost your HYPE rewards.
Team decisions
The Ascend team decides who counts as an active creator, approves takeovers of existing tokens and sets the Ascended thresholds.
Still a design
The litepaper describes the planned protocol. Swap fee rate, NFT boosts and season rules aren't final, and no audit has been published yet.
Ascend's verified contracts
Disclosure: Elysium Ecosystem is a community partner of Ascend. If we share a referral link, it will be marked as one. None of this is financial advice.
Follow along on X
We post there first: new projects, launches and what the numbers are doing.