Token Lifecycle

Overview

Every token on 402.cat follows the same lifecycle: Creation → Trading → Graduation. Understanding this journey helps you make better decisions about when to create, buy, or sell.

The Five Stages

Stage 1: Creation

Creating a Token

Anyone can create a token for $0.01 USDC:

httpcat create "Moon Cat" "MOON" --website https://mooncat.io

What happens:

Smart contract deployed with your parameters
Initial state set:
- Total supply: 1,000,000 tokens
- Real tokens: 793,100 (79.31% for trading)
- LP reserve: 206,900 (20.69% for graduation)
- Virtual reserves initialized
Bonding curve activated
Token address assigned (ends in 402)

Initial Conditions:

Market cap: $6.90 (testnet) or$ 6,900 (mainnet)
Price: ~$0.0000069 (testnet)
Status: active
Available for trading immediately

Your token address ends in 402 for easy identification!

Stage 2: Active Trading

On the Bonding Curve

Tokens trade on the constant product bonding curve: Buying drives price up:

Users add USDC, receive tokens
real_tokens decreases
virtual_usdc increases
Price increases automatically

Selling drives price down:

Users return tokens, receive USDC
real_tokens increases
virtual_usdc decreases
Price decreases automatically

Key Metrics:

Price: Determined by virtual reserves (virtual_usdc / virtual_tokens)
Market Cap: Price × total supply
Graduation Progress: (initial_real_tokens - real_tokens) / initial_real_tokens
Liquidity: All real_usdc available

Trading Dynamics

Early Stage (0-25% graduation progress):

Low price, high risk
Small trades have minimal price impact
Volatile - can reverse quickly
Creator and early buyers accumulating

Mid Stage (25-75% graduation progress):

Rising price if community is strong
More holders, more liquidity
Price impact becoming noticeable
Community building momentum

Late Stage (75-100% graduation progress):

Near graduation, high excitement
Large trades have significant impact
Last chance to buy on curve
Airdrop anticipation

Stage 3: Approaching Graduation

The Final Push

As real_tokens approaches zero: At 90% Progress:

Only 79,310 tokens left (10% of original)
Price has increased significantly
Market cap approaching threshold
Community excitement building

At 99% Progress:

Only 7,931 tokens left (1% of original)
Very high price
Imminent graduation
FOMO intensifies

Trading Behavior Changes:

Buyers: Racing to get in before graduation
Sellers: Some taking profits, others holding for airdrop
Price Impact: Every trade moves the price noticeably
Volume: Typically highest near graduation

Graduation Trigger

When the last token is bought:

real_tokens == 0

Graduation process begins automatically within 30 seconds.

Stage 4: Graduation

Automatic Graduation Process

Detection

Background monitor detects real_tokens == 0

Status Change

Token status: active → graduatingNew buys rejected during this phase

Airdrop

LP Reserve Distribution (206,900 tokens):

Proportionally distributed to all holders
Based on your % of circulating supply
Example: 1% of supply → receive 2,069 airdrop tokens

LP Creation

Uniswap V4 Pool:

CAT/Token pair created
Liquidity added using real_usdc + LP tokens
80% LP locked forever
20% LP to creator

Completion

Token status: graduating → graduatedTrading now happens on Uniswap V4 only

Duration: Typically 1-5 minutes depending on network conditions.

What You Receive

As a Holder:

✅ Your original tokens (unchanged)
✅ Airdrop tokens (~26% more)
✅ LP fee share (33% of trading fees)

As the Creator:

✅ 20% of LP position (unlocked)
✅ 33% of all hook fees
✅ Ongoing revenue from trading

Example:

You bought: 10,000 tokens for $0.20
Circulating: 793,100 tokens
Your share: 1.26%

Airdrop: 10,000 × (206,900 / 793,100) = 2,608 tokens
New total: 12,608 tokens
Your % of supply: 1.26% (unchanged)

Stage 5: V4 Trading

Post-Graduation

Trading Location: Uniswap V4 only How to Trade:

# CLI automatically detects graduated tokens
httpcat buy MOON 0.10   # Routes to V4
httpcat sell MOON 50%   # Routes to V4

# Or use Uniswap directly
# Swap USDC → CAT → MOON

Fee Structure:

Hook fee: ~0.3%
Creator: 33%
Platform: 33%
LPs: 33%

Price Discovery:

Market-driven (no bonding curve)
Deeper liquidity for larger trades
Subject to normal DEX dynamics
Influenced by overall market conditions

Claiming Fees

Creators:

# View claimable fees
httpcat claim MOON

# Claim fees
httpcat claim MOON --execute

LP Holders:

Fees accumulate in V4 position automatically
Claim via Uniswap V4 interface
Can compound by adding more liquidity

Lifecycle Metrics

Timeline

Typical Successful Token:

Day 1: Creation, early trading (0-10% progress)
Day 2-7: Community building (10-50% progress)
Week 2-4: Momentum building (50-90% progress)
Final Push: Last 10% → graduation

Fast Movers:

Graduate in hours or days
Strong marketing and community
Often meme-driven or viral

Slow Burners:

Take weeks or months
Organic community growth
Utility or long-term vision

Success Indicators

Likely to Graduate:

✅ Steady buying pressure
✅ Growing holder count
✅ Active community/chat
✅ Creator engagement
✅ Consistent progress

May Not Graduate:

❌ No trading activity
❌ Single whale holder
❌ Creator abandoned
❌ Negative community sentiment
❌ Stalled progress

State Transitions

Current State	Trigger	Next State
Not created	`create_token`	`active`
`active`	`real_tokens == 0`	`graduating`
`graduating`	Airdrop complete	`graduated`
`graduating`	Error	`failed` (rare)
`graduated`	N/A	Permanent
`failed`	Admin fix	`active` or `graduated`

Permanent States:

graduated: Cannot return to bonding curve
Token trades on V4 forever

Best Practices by Stage

Creating (Stage 1)

Do:

Choose memorable name and symbol
Add website/social links
Plan marketing strategy
Set realistic expectations

Don’t:

Create without a plan
Copy existing successful tokens
Abandon after creation

Active Trading (Stage 2)

Do:

Build community
Engage in chat
Share updates
Monitor progress

Don’t:

Dump on buyers
Make unrealistic promises
Ignore community

Near Graduation (Stage 3)

Do:

Communicate timeline
Prepare for V4 listing
Celebrate milestones
Plan post-graduation strategy

Don’t:

Cause panic selling
Overhype airdrop
Disappear before graduation

Post-Graduation (Stage 5)

Do:

Continue community engagement
Add more V4 liquidity if desired
Claim and reinvest fees
Long-term vision

Don’t:

Abandon after graduation
Dump LP tokens immediately
Ignore ongoing community

Next Steps

Bonding Curve

Deep dive into pricing mechanics

Graduation

Complete graduation documentation

Fee Structure

Understand all fees

Quick Start

Create your first token

The best tokens balance fair distribution (many holders), community engagement, and steady graduation progress. Quality over hype wins long-term.

Getting Started

httpcat-cli

MCP Server

Core Concepts

Overview

The Five Stages

Stage 1: Creation

Creating a Token

Stage 2: Active Trading

On the Bonding Curve

Trading Dynamics

Stage 3: Approaching Graduation

The Final Push

Graduation Trigger

Stage 4: Graduation

Automatic Graduation Process

What You Receive

Stage 5: V4 Trading

Post-Graduation

Claiming Fees

Lifecycle Metrics

Timeline

Success Indicators

State Transitions

Best Practices by Stage

Next Steps

Bonding Curve

Graduation

Fee Structure

Quick Start

Getting Started

httpcat-cli

MCP Server

Core Concepts

​Overview

​The Five Stages

​Stage 1: Creation

​Creating a Token

​Stage 2: Active Trading

​On the Bonding Curve

​Trading Dynamics

​Stage 3: Approaching Graduation

​The Final Push

​Graduation Trigger

​Stage 4: Graduation

​Automatic Graduation Process

​What You Receive

​Stage 5: V4 Trading

​Post-Graduation

​Claiming Fees

​Lifecycle Metrics

​Timeline

​Success Indicators

​State Transitions

​Best Practices by Stage

​Next Steps

Bonding Curve

Graduation

Fee Structure

Quick Start

Overview

The Five Stages

Stage 1: Creation

Creating a Token

Stage 2: Active Trading

On the Bonding Curve

Trading Dynamics

Stage 3: Approaching Graduation

The Final Push

Graduation Trigger

Stage 4: Graduation

Automatic Graduation Process

What You Receive

Stage 5: V4 Trading

Post-Graduation

Claiming Fees

Lifecycle Metrics

Timeline

Success Indicators

State Transitions

Best Practices by Stage

Next Steps