Dear Subscriber,

By Mark Gough

In a market full of overpromises and short shelf lives, genuinely undervalued and battle-tested projects are hard to find. 

Raydium (RAY), built on the Solana network, is one of the rare exceptions.

Launched in early 2021, it didn’t just weather the storm of the last cycle and the bear market that followed. 

It’s come out leaner, faster and more deeply integrated into the ecosystem. 

With strong liquidity, real protocol revenue and a hybrid AMM/orderbook model that gives it an edge, Raydium looks more like a foundation than a fad. 

At its peak, the RAY token reached $16.24. But like many altcoins, it has since taken a significant hit. It sits some 86% below that all-time high.

But as we’ve seen before in crypto, deep drawdowns can sometimes translate into deep-value buys. 

As long as the fundamentals are still strong, that is.

And that appears to be the case with …

Raydium: More Than Just Another DEX 

Raydium is a decentralized exchange and liquidity protocol built on the Solana blockchain. 

But that’s just what you see on the surface. Underneath, it has several features that set it above the crowd, including …

• Lightning-fast trades, thanks to Solana’s low-latency infrastructure.

• Permissionless LP pools, so anyone can launch a liquidity pool for tokens supported by the Solana network.

• AcceleRaytor, a built-in launchpad that gives early access to new projects on the Solana network.

• A range of DeFi activities, such as yield farming, staking, perpetual trading.

But most impressive …

Together, these features mean Raydium is not just a DEX. 

It’s a full DeFi suite.

But the most impressive technical breakthrough is in how Raydium operates. 

Typically, DEXes use an automated market maker (AMM) to facilitate trades. It’s what allows DeFi transactions to happen in seconds. 

Raydium takes things a step further by combining its AMM with the Serum central limit orderbook. 

Essentially, this integration is what allows Raydium’s AMM to function like a hybrid between a traditional order book exchange and a modern AMM. 

This means Raydium users get the best of both worlds: Deeper liquidity like a traditional order book and the faster trade execution AMMs are known for.

Not only does that give users better pricing and faster execution than most AMMs.

The access to external liquidity makes it a central player in the Solana DeFi ecosystem.

With a market cap of under $550 million and a total value locked (TVL) of $1.69 billion, Raydium appears significantly undervalued. 

Let’s unpack why.

Raydium at a Glance 

Here’s how the numbers stack up:

 

If you’ve been in the crypto space long enough, you’ll recognize that these kinds of ratios are big green flags for value investors.

I’ll separate them out so it’s easier to see what I mean. 

 

I particularly want to note the Mcap/TVL ratio. 

When TVL is much higher than the market cap, that’s a sign a project is undervalued and has room to grow. 

And as you can see above, Raydium’s TVL is nearly 3x its market cap. 

In simple terms, Raydium is earning good money. And with its current price near $2.00, its token price hasn’t caught up yet.

 

Go for More Than Capital Gains with RAY 

Radium’s native token, RAY, isn’t just a governance token sitting idle in your wallet while you wait for its price to catch up. 

It has real use cases that can create new opportunities. For example, you can use RAY to …

• Earn rewards and protocol fees via staking

• Participate in IDOs through AcceleRaytor

• Vote on governance decisions

• Pay fees within the Raydium ecosystem

• Farm yields and boost rewards

This multifunctional utility lends some notable staying power to the token. Especially when paired with staking incentives.

Strengths and Risks to Keep in Mind

Let’s be fair. No investment is risk-free. 

And while Raydium has many strengths, there are also a few risks to keep in mind, such as …. 

• Dependence on Solana’s uptime and Serum’s infrastructure.

• Token inflation/dilution as unvested supply unlocks.

• Rising competition from newer DEXes on Solana, like Jupiter (JUP, Not Yet Rated) or Orca (ORCA).

• Regulatory challenges for DeFi in general.

That said, Raydium checks a lot of boxes we look for. 

For example, it maintains a consistent revenue stream and high protocol earnings. 

It also works the DeFi flywheel, covering everything from staking and liquidity providing to Initial DEX Offerings (IDO). 

This one-stop shop approach will naturally attract and keep more users. 

And, while leverage to the Solana network can be a risk, it can also be a boon. 

Solana is still one of the top performing DeFi blockchains. And with seven ETF applications waiting approval by the SEC that will need answers by October, there is significant potential upside in the near future, as well.

Final Thoughts

In a sea of DeFi protocols promising the moon, Raydium delivers. 

It’s battle-tested, revenue-generating and innovating in ways that make it more than just another DEX.

In short, RAY is a strong mid- to long-term opportunity. 

Especially if you’re bullish on Solana’s comeback and want exposure to the DeFi side of that growth.

If you’re keeping an eye on the next wave of DeFi leaders, Raydium deserves a closer look. 

It might not be the flashiest name in crypto, but in this market, fundamentals like these can’t be ignored.

Best,

Mark Gough