Bonding Curve

A bonding curve is a formula that sets a token's price from its supply — buying mints new tokens at ever-higher prices along the curve; selling burns them

A bonding curve is a formula that sets a token’s price from its supply — buying mints new tokens at ever-higher prices along the curve; selling burns them back down it. Early buyers get in cheap; the curve itself is the market maker, no counterparties needed.

Why it matters

Bonding curves powered the 2017-era experiments and still underpin many fair launches and NFT mints: transparent, automatic price discovery. The dark side is identical mechanics in pump-and-dump wrappers — “price only goes up while people buy” is also the literal definition of the greater-fool phase. Read the curve’s math before its marketing.

Related terms

token ·
automated market maker ·
tokenomics

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