What Is a Bonding Curve? Meaning in Crypto
Bonding curve: A bonding curve is a formula that sets a token's price from its supply: each buy raises the price and each sell lowers it, with no order book and no outside liquidity pool.
Key takeaways
- A bonding curve is a pricing formula: each buy pushes the token's price up and each sell pushes it down, so early buyers pay less.
- On pump.fun, every trade on the bonding curve costs 1.25% (0.95% protocol, 0.30% creator), according to its fee page updated 8 October 2026.
- When buyers fill the curve, the coin graduates to a PumpSwap pool; pump.fun takes a 0.015 SOL migration fee.
A bonding curve is a formula that sets a token's price from its supply. Each buy raises the price and each sell lowers it, so the token can trade from the first second without an order book or an outside liquidity pool. Launchpads like pump.fun use it for every new memecoin.
How a bonding curve works
The curve holds the token supply and the SOL that buyers pay in. When you buy, the formula gives you tokens at the current price, and the next buyer pays a little more. When you sell, you get SOL back at a lower point on the curve.
Example: a new pump.fun coin launches. The first buyers get many tokens per SOL. A thousand buys later, the same SOL buys far fewer tokens. If those early buyers sell, they sell into the later buyers at a profit, and the price slides back down the curve.
Pump.fun charges 1.25% on each bonding curve trade, split 0.95% to the protocol and 0.30% to the creator (pump.fun fees). When the curve fills, the coin graduates to a PumpSwap pool, and pump.fun takes a 0.015 SOL migration fee.
Why it matters for traders
On a curve, timing is almost everything. Early buyers, often bots, get the best price, and late buyers pay for their exit. Most coins never fill the curve and lose almost all of their value. To estimate what the 1.25% fee costs you on a round trip, use our fee calculator.