# Who can change what on a baselaunch coin?

The protocol owner cannot change the fee rates of a baselaunch coin that is already trading, because every fee term is fixed when the coin is created. The owner can redirect a coin's creator fee recipient, but only after 3 days of public notice on chain. Nobody can mint beyond the 1,000,000,000 supply or withdraw a graduated pool's locked liquidity.

Numbers checked on chain on 20 October 2026.

The technical detail is in the [docs](https://baselaunch.app/docs#owner-powers).

## Who can change what after a coin launches?

Once a coin exists, control splits three ways. The creator holds two switches. The protocol owner holds a set of powers listed in the contracts. Everything else is fixed, and no one can touch it.

What the creator, the protocol owner and nobody can change

| The creator can | The protocol owner can | Nobody can |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Move the fee wallet to a new address, effective immediately | Redirect a coin's creator fee recipient after 3 days of notice | Mint more coins |
| Turn buyback and lock on or off | Turn a coin's buyback off, never on | Freeze or blacklist a wallet, or pause transfers |
|  | Move the address the protocol share is paid to | Add a tax after launch or raise the creator fee |
|  | Set fee terms for future launches, within limits | Take the pool's liquidity after graduation |
|  | Open or close the creation of new coins | Edit the name, ticker, image, pair, creator fee rate, holders choice or launch tax exemptions |
|  | Appoint the holder rewards publisher key and the fee sweep operator | Upgrade the launcher contracts |

Both creator switches work through the address that receives the coin's creator fees. Closing coin creation does not stop trading: buying, selling, graduation and fee claims keep working.

## Can the owner change the fees on a coin that is already trading?

No. Every coin copies its fee terms when it is created, so its rates never change while it trades. Owner settings only shape future launches.

Fee settings, their values and who sets them

| Setting | Current value | Who sets it | Applies to |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Curve trading fee | 1% | Owner | New launches only |
| Pool trading fee | 1% | Owner | New launches only |
| Creator fee rate | 0 to 10% | Creator, at launch | Fixed for the life of the coin |
| Base fee plus creator fee | At most 20% | Contract limit | Every coin |
| Protocol share of the base fee | 30%, between 20% and 50% | Owner | New launches only |
| Buyback share of the creator part | 50% | Owner | New launches only |
| Launch interface share | 20% of the creator side | Fixed in the code | Every coin |
| Trade referrer share | 0.2% of volume | Fixed in the code | Every coin |
| Launch fee | 0.0005 ETH | Owner, no cap in the contract | Paid once at creation |

The launch fee has no cap, but it is paid once when a coin is created. It never touches a coin already launched. The creator fee rate is shown on the coin page, so you can read it before you trade.

## Can the owner redirect a coin's creator fees?

Yes. This is the one owner power that reaches into an existing coin's payouts. The owner can propose a new creator fee recipient for any coin, and the change also moves the coin's buyback vest.

How it works:

- The proposal is announced on chain when it is made.
- It can only be executed after a 3 days timelock. Once that passes, anyone can execute it for a limited time before it expires.
- A transfer by the creator during the wait does not cancel it, so a stolen wallet cannot block a recovery.
- The owner can also cancel a pending change, which moves nothing.

It is meant for creators who lose their wallet, but the contract does not limit it to that case. The notice period is what gives traders and creators time to see it coming. Balances already credited in the fee escrow stay with the address they were credited to, because the escrow pays a balance only to that address.

Other owner fee powers pay the normal split. If the fee escrow path or a pool sweep stops working, the owner can push pending fees straight to the protocol recipient, the launch interface and the creator recipient. Nothing goes to the owner.

## Can the liquidity be pulled after graduation?

No. When a coin graduates, its pool liquidity becomes a full-range Uniswap v4 position held by the liquidity locker, together with 81,632,653 coins locked at graduation. The locker has no withdraw function. This is not a promise to leave the liquidity alone. The function to take it out does not exist, so no key can call it.

One narrow case involves the owner. If a finished curve's reserves have been moved out but the pool can never be seeded, the owner can send those reserves to an address the owner names, to be returned off chain. This is possible only 7 days after the sweep when the pool seed is refused, or 30 days when it still looks seedable. While a seed is possible, anyone can still seed the pool. A coin rescued this way is marked as rescued on chain for good.

## What cannot be recovered?

Some things are final for everyone, the owner included:

- Locked pool liquidity and the supply locked at graduation.
- Tokens or pair assets sent to a curve, the locker or a coin contract by mistake. They are deliberately left where they land.
- Any transaction once it is on Base. Nobody, including baselaunch and the creator, can reverse a trade or return a loss.

On a holders mode coin, the publisher key decides how the distributor's unallocated balance is split. A dishonest publisher could allocate it to any account. It can never allocate more than the unallocated balance, and it cannot touch an epoch already published and still claimable within 90 days.

## Risks

- Meme coins are highly speculative and most lose their value. Nothing here is financial advice.
- The contracts have not been independently audited yet. An audit is part of our plan.
- The owner keeps the powers listed above, including redirecting a coin's creator fees after a 3-day notice.
- A creator can hold a large share from the opening buy and sell it at any time.
- Every trade pays the trading fee and the coin's creator fee of up to 10%, so buying and selling straight away loses money even if the price does not move.
- Names and tickers are not unique or verified. The contract address is the only identity a coin has, so check it.
- Transactions on Base are final.

## Questions

### Can the owner change the fees on a coin that is already trading?

No. Every fee term is copied into a coin when it is created, so its rates never change while it trades. The owner can set new terms for future launches only, within limits written in the contracts.

### Can the owner take a coin's creator fees?

The owner can propose a new creator fee recipient for any coin, which also redirects its buyback vest. It is announced on chain and can only be executed after 3 days of notice. It is meant for creators who lose their wallet, but the contract does not limit it to that case.

### Can anyone withdraw the liquidity after a coin graduates?

No. The pool's liquidity is held by a locker contract with no withdraw function, together with 81,632,653 coins locked at graduation. No key, including the owner's, can take it out.

### Can the creator sell their coins at any time?

Yes. A creator can hold a large share from the opening buy and sell it at any time, and nothing in the contracts prevents it.

### Can the baselaunch contracts be upgraded?

No. None of the launcher contracts is a proxy or has an upgrade function, so the code at each address is the code that runs. The contracts have not been independently audited yet. An audit is part of our plan.

Every cost is on [fees](https://baselaunch.app/fees), and what the owner can and cannot do is on [security](https://baselaunch.app/security).

Meme coins are highly speculative and most lose their value. Nothing here is financial advice.

Last updated 2026-10-21

Canonical page: https://baselaunch.app/learn/who-can-change-what