Trading & the bonding curve

How the price moves#

Each new token starts on a Meteora Dynamic Bonding Curve (DBC). The curve is built from two market-cap targets: it starts near $5K and completes at $75K. These are USD targets, converted into the pair asset (rounded to three significant figures) when the pair's config is created, and fixed after that.

• A buy puts pair asset into the curve and moves the price up.
• A sell returns tokens to the curve, takes pair asset out and moves the price down.
• Prices are quoted in the pair asset. USD values appear when the pair has a USD reference price.
• The fee is flat: 2.5% or 5% on every buy and sell, with no dynamic or launch-time fee schedule.

Paying in SOL#

Buys are paid in SOL whatever the pair asset is. You do not need to hold USDC, an xStock or any other pair asset to buy a token paired with it.

1. 1
   SOL pairs

   Your SOL goes straight into the pool. No swap is needed.
2. 2
   Every other pair: SOL is swapped first

   The transaction swaps your SOL to the pair asset through Jupiter, then runs the buy on the bonding curve (or the DAMM v2 pool after graduation) with the pair asset received. Both steps are in one transaction with one signature.
3. 3
   Sells can return SOL

   On a non-SOL pair, the pair asset that comes out of the pool can be swapped back to SOL through Jupiter in the same transaction.

• Fees stay in the pair asset. The Meteora pool charges the trading fee on the pair asset it receives after the swap from SOL (or pays out before the swap back), so holders still earn the pair asset. Fees
• The swap has its own price impact. Jupiter routes through other pools, which have their own price impact and slippage. Your slippage setting applies to the route as well as the pool trade.
• All or nothing. The swap and the pool trade are in the same transaction, so if either step fails (for example on slippage) the whole trade fails and nothing is swapped.
• Swapping SOL for the pair asset needs a Jupiter route between the two. The pair card warns when a pair asset has none.

Market cap and bonding progress#

The token page's Curve tab shows the pair asset in the curve, the threshold and the lifecycle. When the threshold is reached the curve is complete and the market graduates. Graduation

Slippage and quotes#

Every quote shows the expected output, the minimum received at your slippage, the price impact and the trading fee. If the price moves past your slippage before the trade lands, it fails instead of filling at a worse price.

Default slippage

1%

Change it in Settings or the trade panel.

Slippage presets

0.5% · 1% · 2% · 5%

Custom slippage range

0.01% – 50%

Priority levels

Auto · Low · Medium · High · Turbo

Default: Auto.

Priority fees#

A priority fee is an optional extra SOL fee that helps a transaction land when the network is busy. Shares estimates it from recent fees for the accounts your transaction touches. Auto uses the Medium estimate for trades and claims and the High estimate for launches, so a one-shot launch lands first time. Estimates are clamped to a floor per level and a hard cap of 5,000,000 micro-lamports per compute unit, so a fee spike cannot produce an absurd fee.

Fees on a trade#

• Fees are always taken in the pair asset: on a buy from the pair asset going into the pool (after the swap from SOL on a non-SOL pair), on a sell from the pair asset coming out (before any swap back to SOL).
• The rate is set by the market’s profile and stays the same after graduation.
• Where each part goes, with a worked example: Fees.

Limits and edge cases#

• A buy bigger than what is left on the curve is rejected. Reduce the amount.
• Once the curve completes, curve trading stops while the pool migrates (status: Graduating).
• After graduation the trade panel routes to the DAMM v2 pool automatically. Same page, same chart.

What happens when you trade#

1. 1
   Quote

   Shares reads the live pool state and quotes your trade, including the Jupiter route when SOL is swapped.
2. 2
   Build and simulate

   The server builds the transaction with your slippage and priority setting, then simulates it.
3. 3
   Check

   Your browser verifies the fee payer and that only allowed programs are called: System Program, Compute Budget, SPL Token, Token-2022, Associated Token Account, Meteora Dynamic Bonding Curve, Meteora DAMM v2.
4. 4
   Sign once

   You approve in your wallet. The signed transaction is relayed through Shares so RPC keys never reach the browser.