A bonding curve is a pricing rule that sets a token's price from its own supply: buyers purchase along a predefined curve, so each purchase moves the price up by an amount the curve fixes in advance, and the collected funds back the market until it graduates into open trading.
A bonding curve is a pricing rule that sets a token's price from its own supply: buyers purchase along a predefined curve, so each purchase moves the price up by an amount the curve fixes in advance, and the collected funds back the market until it graduates into open trading.
On a bonding curve, price is not negotiated — it is computed. The curve maps supply to price, so early buyers pay less than later ones by construction, and anyone can compute what a given purchase will cost before committing. There is no order book and no liquidity needed up front: the curve itself is the counterparty.
Curves are often split into tranches — discrete allocation bands with a set price each. Tranches turn a smooth curve into a ladder anyone can follow: you can see exactly how much supply remains at the current price and what the next step costs.
Hookr generations 3 and 4 used ten tranches, each priced 70% above the previous one, with 80% of fixed supply on the curve and a 1% curve fee. Those retained launches remain readable under their original contracts. Generation 5 retired the curve for new launches and offers fixed-price Instant Launches and clearing-price auctions instead.
When the final tranche sells out, a curve can end by placing liquidity in an AMM pool so trading continues there. For Hookr's retained generation-3 and generation-4 launches, graduation happened atomically in the same transaction as the last curve sale: the pool opened with a locked full-range position and the selected hook already attached.
The historical sharp edges remain visible on those retained records: the curve fee applied during the curve phase, and after graduation price discovery belonged to the pool. These mechanics describe retained launches, not the generation-5 choices offered for a new launch today.