# Bonding Curve References
**URL:** https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271
**Category:** Research
**Created:** [October 6, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271 "2019-10-06T03:25:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@decentralion](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/u/decentralion)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271/1 "2019-10-06T03:25:27Z")
I have a feeling that a [bonding curve] will be the right mechanism for creating grain:$ redeemability. I’m going to start collecting valuable references on bonding curves here so that we can flow cred to the authors and explainers of bonding curves once we start using them ourselves.
Also, a big thanks to @mzargham for all of the pioneering work he’s done on bonding curves.
This post is a wiki, feel free to add more references!
### Simon’s Blog Posts
Simon was one of the first people to design and implement token bonding curves on Ethereum.
- [tokens2.0: curved token bonding](https://medium.com/@simondlr/tokens-2-0-curved-token-bonding-in-curation-markets-1764a2e0bee5)
- [introducing curation markets](https://medium.com/@simondlr/introducing-curation-markets-trade-popularity-of-memes-information-with-code-70bf6fed9881)
- [Token Engineering: curation markets](http://tokenengineering.net/curation-markets) - A really good 3min read to explain bonding curves (with a picture!) and then lots of links to blogs and code to learn more. Note: here bonding curves are referred to as “curation markets”
### Bancor
A protocol that allows you to deploy a standalone bonding curve to mint your tokens and create an always available automatic market for any token.
- [Bancor Whitepaper](https://storage.googleapis.com/website-bancor/2018/04/01ba8253-bancor_protocol_whitepaper_en.pdf) - One of the first projects to create an automated decentralized exchange on Ethereum using bonding curves.
- [Bancor website linking to whitepaper](https://about.bancor.network/protocol/) - Verifies that the above link is indeed hosted by Bancor.
- [Bonding curve price formulas](https://medium.com/@billyrennekamp/converting-between-bancor-and-bonding-curve-price-formulas-9c11309062f5) - Discusses dynamics of automated market makers. (aka bonding curves)
- [Bancor’s smart tokens vs token bonding curves](https://medium.com/@simondlr/bancors-smart-tokens-vs-token-bonding-curves-a4f0cdfd3388) - Compares the Bancor bonding curve model to generic bonding curves.
### Uniswap
A decentralized exchange that uses bonding curves as an automated market maker.
- [Visualizing bonding curves: the Uniswap case](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YfF-xNuz4) - 30sec visualization of the UniSwap bonding curve model
- [cadCAD: Visualizing bonding curves for Uniswap model | BlockScience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7555Zh7hWXg) -
### Aragon Fundraising
A bonding curve app for Aragon DAOs
- [Aragon Fundraising GitHub repo](https://github.com/AragonBlack/fundraising) - All the code and README for the Aragon Fundraising bonding curve app.
- [Aragon Fundraising blog post](https://blog.aragon.black/aragon-fundraising-the-return-of-the-commons/) - Explains Aragon Fundraising from a high level.
- [Aragon Fundraising docs](https://blog.aragon.black/aragon-fundraising-the-return-of-the-commons/) - Provides in depth analysis on Aragon Fundraising mechanics, setup, and usage.
### General information
- [Awesome Bonding Curves](https://github.com/BenSchZA/awesome-bonding) - an awesome list for bonding curves
- [the utility of bonding curves as a cryptoeconomic primitive & funding model](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k4M6QAW2pM) - 2min intro video
- [how to make bonding curves](https://blog.relevant.community/how-to-make-bonding-curves-for-continuous-token-models-3784653f8b17) - An in depth primer on the mechanics of bonding curves. (good intro post with helpful pictures)
- [Bonding curves in depth](https://blog.relevant.community/bonding-curves-in-depth-intuition-parametrization-d3905a681e0a) - A follow up to the post above with lots of math.
- [bonding curves explained](https://yos.io/2018/11/10/bonding-curves/) - very long explanation of bonding curves with pictures and code
- [[talk] the age of networks and the rebirth of cybernetics](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/talk-the-age-of-networks-and-the-rebirth-of-cybernetics/235/4)
- [How to make bonding curves for continuous token models](https://blog.relevant.community/how-to-make-bonding-curves-for-continuous-token-models-3784653f8b17)
- [Bonding Curves In Depth: Intuition and Parameterization](https://blog.relevant.community/bonding-curves-in-depth-intuition-parametrization-d3905a681e0a)
- [Deep Dive: Augmented Bonding Curves](https://medium.com/giveth/deep-dive-augmented-bonding-curves-3f1f7c1fa751)
---
### Author:  [@mzargham](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/u/mzargham)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2019, 4:20am UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271/2 "2019-10-06T04:20:08Z")
Here are a few more references to check out:
Continuous Organizations [https://hackernoon.com/introducing-continuous-organizations-22ad9d1f63b7](https://hackernoon.com/introducing-continuous-organizations-22ad9d1f63b7)
A Javascript app for playing with Augmented bonding curve [https://commons-stack.github.io/augmented-tbc-design/](https://commons-stack.github.io/augmented-tbc-design/)
Multidimensional bonding curve (bonding surface)
> **[Bonding Surfaces & Balancer Protocol](https://medium.com/balancer-protocol/bonding-surfaces-balancer-protocol-ff6d3d05d577?)**
>
> After well over a year of work, Balancer Labs has released the Balancer Protocol Whitepaper. We have restricted it on purpose to the core…
Exploring the Uniswap case by @markusbkoch
> **[Modeling Uniswap in cadCAD](https://community.cadcad.org/t/modeling-uniswap-in-cadcad/35)**
>
> We are working on a cadCAD model of Uniswap and using the same data I decided to plot a few charts to illustrate how bonding curves in action. Here’s “Visualizing bonding curves: the Uniswap case” 🙂 download Left chart DAI and ETH balances of the...
---
### Author:  [@jeffemmett](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/u/jeffemmett)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2019, 8:09am UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271/3 "2019-10-15T08:09:48Z")
Ben Scholtz from Molecule/Protea put together a solid repo of the latest bonding curve examples here:
> **[BenSchZA/awesome-bonding](https://github.com/BenSchZA/awesome-bonding)**
>
> A curated list of token bonding curve code and resources. - BenSchZA/awesome-bonding
The Commons Stack is excited to experiment with integrations between SourceCred and the Augmented Bonding Curve, perhaps even for an early test of a cadCAD Commons for continuous funding of repo maintenance. More chats to come!
---
### Author:  [@burrrata](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/u/burrrata)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2019, 6:16am UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271/4 "2019-12-29T06:16:49Z")
Some of this is a repeat, but since I had this list figured it would be good to share here too for people who search for “bonding curves” in the forum 🙂
> **Bonding Curve Resources**
>
> Simon’s Blog Posts (he first person to design and implement token bonding curves on Ethereum)
>
> - [tokens2.0: curved token bonding](https://medium.com/@simondlr/tokens-2-0-curved-token-bonding-in-curation-markets-1764a2e0bee5)
> - [introducing curation markets](https://medium.com/@simondlr/introducing-curation-markets-trade-popularity-of-memes-information-with-code-70bf6fed9881)
> - [Token Engineering: curation markets](http://tokenengineering.net/curation-markets) - A really good 3min read to explain bonding curves (with a picture!) and then lots of links to blogs and code to learn more. Note: here bonding curves are referred to as “curation markets”
>
> Bancor (a protocol that allows you to deploy a standalone bonding curve to mint your tokens and create an always available automatic market for any token)
>
> - [Bancor Whitepaper](https://storage.googleapis.com/website-bancor/2018/04/01ba8253-bancor_protocol_whitepaper_en.pdf) - One of the first projects to create an automated decentralized exchange on Ethereum using bonding curves.
> - [Bancor website linking to whitepaper](https://about.bancor.network/protocol/) - Verifies that the above link is indeed hosted by Bancor.
> - [Bonding curve price formulas](https://medium.com/@billyrennekamp/converting-between-bancor-and-bonding-curve-price-formulas-9c11309062f5) - Discusses dynamics of automated market makers. (aka bonding curves)
> - [Bancor’s smart tokens vs token bonding curves](https://medium.com/@simondlr/bancors-smart-tokens-vs-token-bonding-curves-a4f0cdfd3388) - Compares the Bancor bonding curve model to generic bonding curves.
>
> Uniswap (decentralized exchange that uses bonding curves as an automated market maker)
>
> - [Visualizing bonding curves: the Uniswap case](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YfF-xNuz4) - 30sec visualization of the UniSwap bonding curve model
> - [cadCAD: Visualizing bonding curves for Uniswap model | BlockScience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7555Zh7hWXg) -
>
> Aragon Fundraising (bonding curve app for Aragon DAOs)
>
> - [Aragon Fundraising GitHub repo](https://github.com/AragonBlack/fundraising) - All the code and README for the Aragon Fundraising bonding curve app.
> - [Aragon Fundraising blog post](https://blog.aragon.black/aragon-fundraising-the-return-of-the-commons/) - Explains Aragon Fundraising from a high level.
> - [Aragon Fundraising docs](https://blog.aragon.black/aragon-fundraising-the-return-of-the-commons/) - Provides in depth analysis on Aragon Fundraising mechanics, setup, and usage.
>
> General information on bonding curves
>
> - [Awesome Bonding Curves](https://github.com/BenSchZA/awesome-bonding) - an awesome list for bonding curves
> - [the utility of bonding curves as a cryptoeconomic primitive & funding model](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k4M6QAW2pM) - 2min intro video
> - [how to make bonding curves](https://blog.relevant.community/how-to-make-bonding-curves-for-continuous-token-models-3784653f8b17) - An in depth primer on the mechanics of bonding curves. (good intro post with helpful pictures)
> - [Bonding curves in depth](https://blog.relevant.community/bonding-curves-in-depth-intuition-parametrization-d3905a681e0a) - A follow up to the post above with lots of math.
> - [bonding curves explained](https://yos.io/2018/11/10/bonding-curves/) - very long explanation of bonding curves with pictures and code
---
### Author:  [@mzargham](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/u/mzargham)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2020, 9:14am UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271/5 "2020-02-16T09:14:25Z")
Adding more here:
Math/Theory (my papers w/ Vienna Institute of CryptoEconomics)
- From Curved Bonding to Configuration Spaces [https://epub.wu.ac.at/7385/](https://epub.wu.ac.at/7385/)
- Economic Games as Estimators [https://epub.wu.ac.at/7433/](https://epub.wu.ac.at/7433/)
- Some python notebooks in this repo: [https://github.com/BlockScience/conviction/blob/master/abc\_sim.ipynb](https://github.com/BlockScience/conviction/blob/master/abc_sim.ipynb)
Practice/Implementations (Community Inclusion Currencies Deployed bt Grassroots Economics:
- Smart Contracts (Bancor Fork): [https://github.com/GrassrootsEconomics/CIC-Liquid-Token](https://github.com/GrassrootsEconomics/CIC-Liquid-Token)
- Grassroots Econ Blog: [https://www.grassrootseconomics.org/single-post/CICs-are-Now-Open-Source](https://www.grassrootseconomics.org/single-post/CICs-are-Now-Open-Source)
- Media Release on the Kenyan test case: [https://news.trust.org/item/20191126123058-xtxvz/](https://news.trust.org/item/20191126123058-xtxvz/)
As a note, I’ve had some collaborations with Grassroots economics studying their model with cadCAD as a step towards gaining broader support and scaling out CICs. One thing we did determine was that there is a mathematical equivalence between the Bancor Equations and my generalized invariant based bonding curve model in “Economic Games as Estimatiors” with the caveat that in CICs the tokens are _interpreted_ as soft pegged to the national currency so getting non 1:1 rates is interpreted as a kind of leverage. More social and technical research is underway to reconcile theory with observed behavior in the test markets.
While I’ve done A LOT of work with Bonding Curves, I think the most important thing that I have learned is that they are not _in-and-of-themselves_ anything, they are interfaces between economies (or maybe more appropriately economic sub-communities). The right design depends very much on the characterization of the systems being connected.
Some Examples:
- Commons Stack: the “Augmented Bonding Curve” is designed to be an iterface between the broader ‘open-economy’ (whose unit of currency is fiat $, represented in the design by DAI or other stable token) and a community-project economy where the token being issued by the curve encodes a set of rights within the community. Initially that right is to a process which steers a funding pool, which has mechanisms related to the Bonding Curve. Slowly but surely we’re working toward a first commons deployment, the “Token Engineering Commons” is the simplest variation of the above, aiming to fund and steer rigorous research into token-design primitives. Learn more here: [https://commonsstack.org/abc](https://commonsstack.org/abc)
- Continuous Securities Offerings: this is an evolution of the continuous organization. This system designed by Fairmint uses a bonding curve which interfaces open-economy to a project but rather than offering decision-making rights, it essentially offers a share of future revenues through their revenue commitment mechanism. Functionally its a debt instrument. Read more here: [https://www.fairmint.co/continuous-securities-offering-handbook](https://www.fairmint.co/continuous-securities-offering-handbook)
- Political Action Committee: while each of the examples above use DAI or stablecoin as the bonding currency, thus interfacing with the “open-economy”, the idea of a political action committee using a bonding curve is something I’ve been brainstorming with Cem from Aragon Black. In this example, the bonded tokens are already ecosystem governance tokens such as ANT or MKR. The act of bonding them does not render them useless for governance, rather it provides a form of composable liquid democracy: the group may elect delegates to vote on behalf of the holdings of the bonding curve. See notes: [https://hackmd.io/LIVgbavYTOCtNF0YNq\_y4g](https://hackmd.io/LIVgbavYTOCtNF0YNq_y4g)
I believe this is a very fruitful space, I expect we’ll continue to see new ideas and new implementations but it will be sometime before the dynamics of such systems (specifically the social and political dynamics) are well understood.
---
### Author:  [@META\_DREAMER](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/u/META_DREAMER)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271/6 "2020-05-16T00:21:51Z")
Adding Gardens to the list since its what MetaGame plans to use for its Bonding Curve implementation! [https://www.notion.so/Gardens-TL-DR-c56ca04a2d064ed8b219079af190d53b](https://www.notion.so/Gardens-TL-DR-c56ca04a2d064ed8b219079af190d53b)
Seems like its a better fit than Aragon Fundraising for SourceCred as well
---
### Author:  [@thibauld](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/u/thibauld)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://discourse.sourcecred.io/t/bonding-curve-references/271/7 "2020-05-20T20:05:39Z")
Good list! I am obviously biased here but I agree with @mzargham that the continuous organization whitepaper would be a good fit for this list:
> **[C-ORG/whitepaper](https://github.com/C-ORG/whitepaper)**
>
> The Whitepaper of Continuous Organisations. Contribute to C-ORG/whitepaper development by creating an account on GitHub.