Bonding curve

What a bonding curve is#

A bonding curve is a contract that is always ready to trade. Instead of waiting for a seller to match your buy, you trade directly with the curve: it sells you tokens from its supply when you send ETH, and buys them back when you sell.

On Gamapad, every token gets its own curve at launch. The curve receives all 1,000,000,000 tokens and starts with no ETH. Each buy adds ETH and takes tokens out, which raises the price. Each sell does the opposite. When the curve has collected its ETH target, the token graduates to a Uniswap v4 pool.

• There is always a price. You never need someone on the other side of your trade, so you can buy or sell at any time before graduation.
• The price comes from a formula. It depends only on how much ETH the curve holds. Nobody sets it by hand, not the creator and not Gamapad.
• Each token has its own curve. ETH paid for one token stays in that token’s curve and never mixes with another token’s funds.

The formula#

The curve is a constant-product formula with a virtual ETH reserve. The virtual reserve is not real ETH that anyone deposited. It is a fixed number that sets the opening price, so the first buyer pays a sensible price instead of nothing. Four values describe the curve at any moment:

V

Virtual ETH: a fixed amount set when the token launches

R

Real ETH collected by the curve so far (starts at 0)

T

Tokens still held by the curve

S

Total supply: 1,000,000,000 tokens

Because both the ETH and the tokens move with every trade, the price rises faster as the curve fills. Early buys move the market cap a little in absolute terms, later buys move it more. Selling runs the same formula backwards. The contract does this maths in whole wei and rounds in the curve’s favour.

Current values

These are the settings for new launches on GIWA Sepolia, read from the contracts. Each token keeps the values it launched with, for life. Mainnet will use a larger starting market cap and target, with the same rules.

Virtual ETH (V)

1.8 ETH≈ $4.3KAlso the starting market cap

Graduation target (ETH collected)

5 ETH≈ $11.9K

Market cap at graduation

25.69 ETH≈ $61.2K14.3× the starting market cap

Tokens left on the curve at graduation

264.71M26.5% of the supply, all of it moves to the pool and the locker

The curve, live#

The chart plots market cap against the ETH the curve has collected, from launch to the 5 ETH graduation target. The line bends upward: every extra ETH adds more market cap than the one before.

A token’s page shows where it is on this path today: the curve card displays the ETH in the curve, the progress towards the target and the market cap it graduates at. Progress can go down as well as up, because sells take ETH out of the curve.

Price impact and buy size#

Price impact is how much your own trade moves the price. On the curve you pay a different price for every token you buy, so your average price is higher than the price shown before the trade. The trade panel shows this difference as the price impact, before you sign.

On a curve it follows a simple rule: the impact of a buy is roughly the ETH you add, divided by the ETH already behind the price (V + R). The same buy moves a young curve a lot and a fuller curve much less. The table below uses the current settings and the standard fee, with no creator tax.

Buying and selling on the curve#

• Fees are paid in ETH. Each trade pays the 1% standard fee plus the token’s creator tax, if it has one. On a buy the fee comes off the ETH you send; on a sell it comes off the ETH you receive. Only the rest moves the curve. See Fees.
• You can always sell back. Until the token graduates, the curve buys your tokens at the current curve price, minus fees. Selling takes ETH out of the curve and lowers the price and the graduation progress.
• The buy that fills the curve is filled partly. If your buy would take the curve past its target, the curve sells you only the tokens that are left, charges fees on the part it used and refunds the rest of your ETH in the same transaction. That same transaction then graduates the token.
• Your minimum is protected. Every trade carries a minimum amount based on your slippage setting. If other trades move the price further before yours lands, the transaction is rejected and you only pay gas.
• A token’s curve never changes. Its virtual ETH and graduation target are fixed when it launches. New settings only apply to tokens launched after a change.

Why there is no presale#

All 1,000,000,000 tokens are created once, straight into the curve. There is no presale, no team allocation and no free tokens for the creator. Everyone who wants tokens, including the person who launched it, buys them from the curve at the formula price.

A creator can make the first buy inside the launch transaction itself. That buy uses the same curve and the same fees as any other buy: it only means the creator is first in line. Whatever the creator buys is visible on the token page, labelled as the creator in the Holders tab.

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