What happens on-chain when a coin graduates?#
On pump.fun, a buy that takes the curve's real token reserves to zero sets the curve's complete flag, and the curve stops trading. Anyone can then call the migrate instruction, which moves the curve's liquidity into a PumpSwap pool and burns the LP tokens, so that liquidity stays in the pool. See PumpSwap.
The sequence is documented in the pump.fun program docs. Other launchpads follow the same idea with their own pools:
| Launchpad | Curve | Graduates to |
|---|---|---|
| pump.fun | pump.fun bonding curve | PumpSwap pool |
| Raydium LaunchLab (LetsBonk and others) | LaunchLab curve | Raydium CPMM pool |
| Meteora DBC (Moonit, Believe, Jupiter Studio and others) | Dynamic Bonding Curve pool | Meteora DAMM v2 pool |
Swipe or scroll to compare all columns.
What changes for a trader#
- The price source. Before, the price is the curve's formula. After, it is the ratio of the pool's two balances, and other people can add liquidity.
- Fees. The venue's fee changes from the curve's rate to the pool's tiered rate.
- The crowd. Graduation is a visible milestone, so many traders buy or sell around it.
Graduation changes the market, not the holders: the same early wallets still hold their supply. pump.fun graduation explained covers the market cap and SOL it takes, and rug pull the checks that still apply.
How Fullport handles the handover#
Between curve completion and the pool going live there is no honest price. Fullport pauses new orders on that coin with `TOKEN_MIGRATING`, marks open positions at the last curve price, and resumes trading automatically once the pool is live.
Both stages are tradeable on allowlisted launchpads, in the browser terminal or with Fullport Tap. Details are in the fill policy and the token rules.
Quick answers
- Can you trade a coin while it is graduating?
- Not during the handover itself. On-chain the completed curve stops accepting trades, and on Fullport new orders pause with TOKEN_MIGRATING while open positions are marked at the last curve price. Trading resumes once the pool is live.
- What does graduated mean on pump.fun?
- It means the coin's bonding curve sold its last real token and its liquidity was migrated to a PumpSwap pool with the LP tokens burnt. The coin keeps the same address and now trades on the pool instead of the curve.
- Do most memecoins graduate?
- No. Most launchpad coins never sell out their bonding curve, so they never reach a pool. Graduation is a milestone a minority of coins reach, and it says nothing on its own about what the early holders will do next.