Static crawler version. Interactive docs are available at https://docs.memewar.zone/core-concepts/bonding-curve.

Bonding Curve

How pricing works before graduation.

Before graduation, each campaign trades on a **bonding curve**: a pricing function where the token price depends on how many tokens have been bought from the curve.

The intuition

• **Buy**: you add BNB into the curve and receive tokens → supply on the curve decreases → **price goes up**.
• **Sell**: you return tokens to the curve and receive BNB → supply on the curve increases → **price goes down**.

That means there is no traditional order book. Your trade interacts directly with the curve.

Price impact (why big orders move the price)

Because the curve price changes as you move along it:

• Small trades move the price a little.
• Large trades can move the price a lot.

On the UI you’ll usually see an estimate for:

• expected tokens/BNB received
• price impact

Slippage (why a trade can fail)

Your wallet submits a transaction to the chain. If the market moves before it confirms (other users trading), your expected output may change.

**Slippage tolerance** is the maximum difference you’re willing to accept between the quoted output and the final output.

• In calm markets, low slippage is usually fine.
• In fast markets, you may need slightly higher slippage.

What “early vs late on the curve” means

• **Early curve**: cheaper price levels, usually thinner activity, momentum can build quickly.
• **Late curve**: closer to graduation, price levels are higher and moves can be sharper in both directions.

Important trader mindset

Bonding-curve markets are **reflexive**:

• buying pushes price up (often attracting more attention)
• selling pushes price down (often triggering more selling)

Treat it as high-volatility by default.

Next: **[Graduation](/core-concepts/graduation)**.