> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://trench-today.gitbook.io/trench-today/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://trench-today.gitbook.io/trench-today/how-it-works.md). # How It Works Every token on Trench follows the same lifecycle: **curve → graduation → DEX**. This page walks through each stage, explains where the price comes from, and traces the fee flow. ## The two‑stage lifecycle A token on Trench lives two lives. {% columns %} {% column %} ### Stage 1 · Bonding Curve Only on Trench. Trades price automatically against a constant‑product curve. No order book, no market makers. The curve is where a token goes from zero holders to its first few hundred. {% endcolumn %} {% column %} ### Stage 2 · DEX Graduation triggers once the curve fills. Liquidity migrates automatically and the token trades like any other ERC‑20. On **Ethereum**, it graduates to **Uniswap V2** with LP permanently burned. On **MegaETH**, it graduates to **Kumbaya V3** with LP held by the protocol. On **Robinhood**, it graduates to **Uniswap V4** with the LP locked (tokens graduated before the V4 upgrade remain on Uniswap V3). From here, Trench steps out of the way. {% endcolumn %} {% endcolumns %} {% hint style="info" %} The curve is closed the instant a token graduates. All trading moves to the DEX, and every aggregator that indexes it will see the token automatically. {% endhint %} ## Stage 1 · The bonding curve ### What a bonding curve actually does Think of the curve as a **vending machine with a sliding price**: * Every token you buy makes the next token slightly more expensive. * Every token you sell makes the next token slightly cheaper. * Nobody sets the price — it's a pure function of how much has been bought minus sold. There's no order book. No market makers. No front‑running your own price discovery. ### The math (for the curious) Trench uses the classic **constant‑product formula**: $$ x \cdot y = k $$ Where `x` is the ETH reserve, `y` is the token reserve, and `k` stays constant. Buying tokens raises `x` and lowers `y` — which means the price `x / y` rises. It's the same math Uniswap V2 uses, tuned for a fair‑launch context. ### Starting parameters Every token on Trench starts with the same curve shape per chain, so every launch on the same chain is on equal footing. | Parameter | Ethereum Mainnet | MegaETH Mainnet | Robinhood Mainnet | What it means | | ---------------------------- | ---------------- | --------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Total supply | 1,000,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 | 1,000,000,000 | Hard cap. Minted once, at deploy. | | On the curve | 80% (800 M) | 80% (800 M) | 80% (800 M) | Real tokens sellable through the curve. | | Reserved for DEX | 20% (200 M) | 20% (200 M) | 20% (200 M) | Set aside to seed the DEX pool at graduation. | | Starting virtual ETH reserve | \~2.009 ETH | \~2.027 ETH | \~1.712 ETH | The ETH the curve pretends to start with. Shapes price impact. | | **Graduation threshold** | **\~6 ETH** | **\~5.5 ETH** | **\~5 ETH** | Once this much ETH has been bought into the curve, the token graduates. | ## Stage 2 · Graduation ### What graduation means When enough ETH has been bought into the curve, the token **graduates**. Three things happen in a single atomic sequence: {% stepper %} {% step %} #### The curve closes No more buys or sells happen on Trench's AMM. The curve contract is frozen. {% endstep %} {% step %} #### Liquidity migrates to the DEX The ETH collected by the curve, together with the **20% of supply** reserved at launch, becomes an LP position on the target DEX. {% endstep %} {% step %} #### LP is secured On **Ethereum**: LP tokens are burned to a dead address — liquidity is permanently locked forever. On **MegaETH**: the LP NFT (Kumbaya V3 full-range position) is sent to the protocol's LP receiver wallet and held by the protocol. On **Robinhood**: the LP NFT (Uniswap V4 full-range position) is locked in the TrenchPositionLocker contract (1-year timelock). Tokens graduated before the V4 upgrade hold a Uniswap V3 position instead. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} From here, the token trades like any ERC‑20 on the DEX. Price discovery continues, arbitrageurs show up, and the token becomes visible on every aggregator that indexes the pool. ### Why LP security matters There is **no rug path**. The dev doesn't have the keys to pull liquidity. The platform controls the LP only to hold it — not to drain it. The liquidity belongs to the pool, not to any individual. This is the single most important property of a launchpad. Trench treats it as table stakes. ## Fees Trench keeps the fee model simple and transparent on the curve. After graduation, the DEX takes over and Trench steps out entirely. ### On the curve Every trade pays a flat fee, split between the deployer and the protocol. The exact rate and split depend on the chain: | Chain | Trade fee | Dev share | Protocol share | | ------------- | --------- | ----------------- | ------------------ | | **Ethereum** | 1.25% | 0.3% (24% of fee) | 0.95% (76% of fee) | | **MegaETH** | 1.25% | 0.3% (24% of fee) | 0.95% (76% of fee) | | **Robinhood** | 1% | 0.3% (30% of fee) | 0.7% (70% of fee) | No buy tax. No sell tax. No hidden "liquidity fee" coming out of your trade — the trade fee is the whole number. ### At graduation Graduation costs real ETH. Deploying a DEX pool, seeding initial liquidity, and ensuring the migration succeeds all consume gas. A **listing fee** is deducted from the ETH raised by the curve at the moment of migration — this covers graduation expenses and seeds the initial LP. The rate is **8%** on Ethereum and MegaETH, and **2%** on Robinhood. The upshot: **no surprise cost after migration**, and no situation where a token gets stuck because graduation couldn't be funded. Every curve that fills up graduates, no friction. ### After graduation On **Ethereum**, Trench collects no fees after graduation — LP tokens are burned, so no one holds an LP position, and pool fees are effectively unclaimable. Trench is out of the picture. On **MegaETH**, the Kumbaya V3 LP NFT is held by the protocol's LP receiver wallet. The V3 pool charges a **0.01% fee** on every post-graduation trade, and those fees accrue to the LP position held by the protocol. Trench does not redistribute these fees to token creators or traders. On **Robinhood**, dev rewards keep flowing after graduation. New tokens graduate to a **Uniswap V4** pool whose LP is locked, and a fee hook charges a **1% fee** on the ETH side of every post-graduation swap, paying **60% to the deployer, 40% to the protocol** — **directly on each swap, with no claim step**. Liquidity still can't be removed — only the swap fees are split. So a Robinhood dev earns twice: the curve fee while trading on Trench, then a share of every DEX swap for the life of the token. (Tokens graduated before the V4 upgrade earn the same 60% split on their Uniswap V3 pool, claimed via the LPFeeSplitter.) ### Dev rewards in detail If you launched the token, you earn **0.3% of every trade on its curve** for as long as the curve is live. * **Payout:** Fees are paid in ETH to the **deployer wallet**. There's nothing to configure at launch — the wallet that signed the deploy is the wallet that earns. * **Where to claim:** The **Fee Vault panel** on the Trench homepage. It's visible to any wallet that has launched at least one token, and it aggregates fees across every token you've ever deployed. * **One button, one tx:** Claim sweeps all unclaimed fees across all your tokens in a single transaction. * **After graduation:** Curve fees stop for that token. On Ethereum and MegaETH the DEX takes over and Trench collects nothing for the dev. On **Robinhood**, the dev keeps earning **60% of the Uniswap V4 swap fees**, paid automatically on every swap by the fee hook — no separate claim needed. (Tokens graduated before the V4 upgrade still claim their 60% V3 share via the LPFeeSplitter.) {% hint style="warning" %} Dev fees cannot be paid to an X handle, an email, or any off‑chain destination. They always go to the deployer wallet — the one that signed the `launch` transaction. {% endhint %} ## Next * [**Getting Started**](/trench-today/getting-started.md) — launch, trade, claim. * [**API Overview**](/trench-today/for-developers/api.md) — pull curve state, trades, and token metadata into your product. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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