How token launches work on Meteora: bonding curves, launch pools and vaults

Three ways to launch

Meteora gives token teams and launchpads three main routes: a bonding curve that later graduates into a normal pool, a launch pool on DLMM or DAMM v2 seeded by the team, and vaults that handle early buyers.^[6][7]

The Dynamic Bonding Curve (DBC)

A bonding curve is a price rule: each buy makes the next one a little dearer. On Meteora, a launchpad (the docs call it the partner) sets up the curve, the fees and what happens at graduation once; creators then launch tokens from that setup.^[1] The curve can have up to 16 points, so the price can rise slowly at first and faster later, or the other way round.^[8]

When the pool has collected a set amount of the quote token, curve trading stops and the token graduates: it moves into a DAMM v2 pool, starting from the price the curve reached. Meteora's keepers do this automatically for common thresholds such as 10 SOL, 750 USDC or 1,500 MET.^[2] Migration into the older DAMM v1 is deprecated for new launches.^[2]

At graduation, the new pool's liquidity is split between the launchpad and the creator, each part unlocked, locked forever or vesting. At least 10% must stay locked on day one, and vesting can't last more than two years.^[2] During the curve, the protocol takes 20% of trading fees and the rest is shared by the launchpad and the creator.^[9]

Launch pools

A team can also start its token straight in a pool. A DLMM launch pool puts the team's tokens in bins from a starting price upward, can lock them for a period, and opens trading at a set time.^[10] A DAMM v2 launch pool can be one-sided (only the new token) and use a fee scheduler.^[10] Creating a DAMM v2 pool with a position costs about 0.022 SOL, against about 0.25 SOL for a DLMM launch pool.^[11]

Anti-sniper fees

Snipers are bots that buy in the first seconds of a launch and sell to later buyers. DAMM v2's time scheduler starts the trading fee high and lowers it in steps, either evenly or fast at first and then slowly.^[3] A market-cap scheduler lowers it only as the price rises.^[12] Meteora's published scheduler presets start at 50%; the fee can be set as high as 99%.^[13][14] An older option, the rate limiter, is deprecated for new pools.^[15]

For buyers this means one thing: in the first minutes, a trade can cost far more than usual. The pool page shows its current fee; check it before you buy a new token.

Alpha Vault: supporters buy first

Alpha Vault lets supporters deposit a quote token such as USDC before trading opens. The vault buys from the launch pool before the public can, and the tokens are released on a schedule the team sets, which can be all at once.^[4] In pro-rata mode everyone gets a share and extra deposits are refunded; in first-come, first-served mode deposits stop at a cap.^[16]

Presale Vault: a token sale (beta)

Presale Vault runs a sale at a fixed price, first-come first-served, or pro-rata. If the sale doesn't reach its minimum, buyers get their money back. It doesn't create a pool or list the token by itself, and Meteora says it is still in beta and may change.^[5][17]

After the launch: sharing fees

Dynamic Fee Sharing splits a pool's fees between 2 and 5 wallets by fixed shares, for example a team and a partner. The split can't be edited later: a new split needs a new vault.^[18]

If you trade new tokens

• Check the token and pool first: How to check a token before you LP.
• Look at the pool's current fee: early fees can be very high by design.^[3]
• Remember that new tokens are risky and can lose most or all of their value; never put in more than you can lose.