What is a bonding curve? Explained with real numbers from Base
A bonding curve is a contract that holds a meme coin's unsold supply and prices every buy and sell by how many tokens it has sold. On baselaunch, each coin's 1,000,000,000 tokens start on their own curve on Base, and the price rises 12.25x from the first token sold to the last before the coin graduates.
Numbers checked on chain on 20 October 2026.
The technical detail is in the docs.
How does a bonding curve work for a meme coin?
Think of the curve as a vending machine that sets its own price. It holds every token that has not been bought yet. Its price depends only on how many tokens it has sold.
When you buy, you take tokens out of the machine at a slightly higher price than the buyer before you. When you sell, you put tokens back and receive the pair asset at the current price. The contract itself is the other side of every trade. While the curve is open, there is always a price to buy at and always a price to sell at.
On baselaunch, the whole supply is minted once at creation and placed in the coin's own curve. There is no presale, no team allocation and no way to mint more later. Creating a coin costs 0.0005 ETH plus gas.
What is the bonding curve formula, in plain words?
The baselaunch curve is a constant product with a virtual reserve. In words: the virtual reserve plus the real money in the curve, multiplied by the tokens still in the curve, always equals the virtual reserve multiplied by the full supply.
Curve:
(V + R) × T = V × SPrice of one token:
(V + R) ÷ T| Letter | Meaning | Value on an ETH pair |
|---|---|---|
| V | Virtual reserve | 1.68 ETH |
| R | Real pair asset paid in by buyers, after fees | Starts at 0 ETH |
| T | Tokens still held by the curve | Starts at 1,000,000,000 |
| S | Supply | 1,000,000,000 |
As buyers pay in, R grows and T shrinks, so the price rises. When tokens are sold back, R falls and T grows, so the price falls.
The virtual reserve is why the price never starts at zero. The curve acts as if it already held 1.68 ETH before anyone bought. That amount is never paid out and cannot be withdrawn.
What are the opening and closing prices on the curve?
At launch, R is zero and T is the whole supply, so the price is V divided by S. By the time the curve closes, the price is 12.25x the opening price.
| Point on the curve, ETH pair | Value |
|---|---|
| Opening price per token | 0.00000000168 ETH |
| Closing price per token | 0.00000002058 ETH |
| Price rise, first token to last | 12.25x |
| ETH in the curve at close | 4.2 ETH |
| Tokens the curve sells | 714,285,714 |
| Tokens the curve holds back | 285,714,286 |
Other pairs, such as USDC or cbBTC, have their own virtual reserve and graduation target. Every pair has the same curve shape, with the target at 2.5 times the virtual reserve.
How many tokens does a first buy get on a bonding curve?
Every buy moves the price for the next one. A large order therefore pays more per token on average than a small one. That is price impact, not a fee.
The table shows what the first buyer of a fresh ETH-pair coin receives. It assumes the buy comes after the launch tax window, with the 1% trading fee and no creator fee.
| First buy | Tokens received | Share of supply | Price afterwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01 ETH | 5,858,335 | 0.6% | 0.0000000017 ETH |
| 0.1 ETH | 55,649,241 | 5.6% | 0.000000001884 ETH |
| 0.5 ETH | 227,586,207 | 22.8% | 0.000000002816 ETH |
| 1 ETH | 370,786,517 | 37.1% | 0.000000004243 ETH |
| 2 ETH | 540,983,607 | 54.1% | 0.000000007974 ETH |
Ten times the ETH does not buy ten times the tokens. The 1 ETH buy gets less than seven times what the 0.1 ETH buy gets.
Fees are always charged in the pair asset, never in the coin. On a buy, the trading fee, any creator fee of up to 10% and any launch tax come off what you pay before the curve prices the rest. On a sell, the curve prices your tokens first and the fees come off what you receive. Buys in the first 3 seconds also pay a launch tax of up to 98%.
What happens when the bonding curve sells out?
The buy that takes the last of the 714,285,714 sellable tokens closes the curve. That last buy is filled only up to what is left, and the rest of your payment comes back in the same transaction. Your price limit still holds.
Once the last sellable token is bought, the curve stops accepting sells. Normally the coin graduates in that same transaction. The 4.2 ETH collected and part of the reserved tokens open a Uniswap v4 pool at the curve's final price.
| Where the supply ends up | Tokens | Share of supply |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers' wallets, sold by the curve | 714,285,714 | 71.4% |
| Uniswap v4 pool, locked liquidity | 204,081,633 | 20.4% |
| Locked for good, never circulating | 81,632,653 | 8.2% |
The pool opens at 0.00000002058 ETH, the same as the curve's closing price. Its liquidity is held by a locker with no withdraw function. Trading in the pool pays a 1% base fee, and the creator fee keeps applying.
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.
- Every trade pays the 1% 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.
- Buys in the first 3 seconds pay a launch tax of up to 98% in the launch second.
- Names and tickers are not unique or verified. The contract address is the only identity a coin has, so check it.
- A creator can hold a large share from the opening buy and sell it at any time.
- Prices and charts on the site are estimates read from the chain and can lag behind it.
- Transactions on Base are final. Nobody can reverse a trade or return a loss.
Read the full curve, graduation and fee mechanics in the docs.
Questions
Why does the price on a bonding curve not start at zero?
The curve behaves as if it already held a virtual reserve of 1.68 ETH on an ETH pair before anyone bought. This sets the opening price at 0.00000000168 ETH per token. The virtual reserve is never paid out and cannot be withdrawn.
Can I always sell a coin back to the bonding curve?
While the curve is open, it always quotes a price to buy at and a price to sell at, because the contract fills every trade itself. Once the last sellable token is bought, the curve stops accepting sells, and selling continues in the Uniswap pool the coin graduates into.
Why does a large buy get fewer tokens per ETH than a small one?
Every buy moves the curve price up for the next one, so a large order pays more per token on average. This is price impact, not a fee.
Does graduating from the bonding curve mean a coin is good?
No. Graduation means the curve sold its last sellable token. It says nothing about a coin's quality and promises no price or volume afterwards, and many coins never reach it.
Every cost is on fees, and what the owner can and cannot do is on security.
Meme coins are highly speculative and most lose their value. Nothing here is financial advice.
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