Bonding Curves
Mint and burn tokens along a price curve — see how curve shape determines who profits and who pays.
What's a Bonding Curve?
A mathematical function that sets the price of a token based on its supply. No order book, no market maker. The curve IS the market. Buying mints new tokens and moves up the curve. Selling burns tokens and moves back down.
The Reserve
The area under the curve is the collateral pool. When you buy, your payment goes into the reserve. When you sell, the reserve pays you out. The math guarantees the reserve always has enough to buy back all outstanding tokens at the current curve price.
Curve Shape Matters
Linear curves give steady returns to early buyers. Quadratic curves aggressively reward the earliest participants. Square root curves are gentler on latecomers. The shape is a design choice about who benefits and how much.
Where Bonding Curves Show Up
Pump.fun and similar token launchpads. Continuous token models. Curation markets where you stake on content and earn if others stake after you. Compare to an AMM which is two-sided.