The bonding curve
A bonding curve prices a coin with a formula instead of an order book. Each buy raises the price for the next buyer, each sell lowers it, and there is always a counterparty because the curve itself is the market.
The curve is the creator's to shape
A coin's curve is not a platform constant. The creator sets where it starts — the market cap the coin opens at — and how much it raises before it fills and graduates. Everything else on this page follows from those two numbers.
The form arrives on the protocol's suggested values, and a creator who changes nothing launches on them, which is what most coins do. They are a starting point, not the shape of every coin.
The suggested curve
- Launch mcap
- ~$3.8K
- Graduation mcap
- ~$43K
- Raise
- 4.5 ETH
- Climb
- 11.1×
- Total supply: 1 billion coins. This one is protocol-set and identical for every launch.
- 700 million are sold through the curve.
- 300 million are held back and become the coin's pool liquidity at graduation.
Dollar figures assume ETH at $2,000 and scale with it.
Milestones on the suggested curve
A coin launched on its own numbers has its own table; its page shows the figures that apply to it.
| Stage | Coins sold | Market cap | ETH raised | Price vs launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | 0 | ~$3.8K | 0 | 1× |
| 25% | 175M | ~$5.6K | 0.4 | 1.5× |
| 50% | 350M | ~$9.1K | 1.0 | 2.4× |
| 75% | 525M | ~$17K | 2.1 | 4.4× |
| 90% | 630M | ~$28K | 3.3 | 7.3× |
| Graduation | 700M | ~$43K | 4.5 | 11.1× |
The last stretch is the steepest: the final 10% of the curve moves the price more than the first half did.
Bounds
The two numbers are bounded by the protocol: a minimum raise, and a window on how much of the supply may be sold through the curve. A launch outside them does not deploy, which is what stops a curve from being flattened into a disguised direct seed. See Curve parameters.
Why the price does not start at zero
The curve is seeded with a virtual reserve: accounting ETH that gives the first buy a sensible price. It cannot be withdrawn by anyone and it is not part of the raise. It sets the launch price and, with the raise target, fixes exactly where graduation lands.
Fees and transfers during this phase
Every trade pays 1.5% in ETH, split evenly between the creator and the protocol. A referrer's share comes out of the protocol's half rather than being added to the trade. See Trading fees.
Coins cannot be sent wallet to wallet until graduation. Buying and selling on the curve works normally; a transfer fails. Every restriction lifts in the graduation transaction.