How EQUINOX works
One set of rules for every token, enforced by smart contracts on Elysium. This page explains each rule, how the Genesis price is calculated, where the fees go and what the protocol cannot protect you from.
The life of a launch
- 11 transactionCreate
Name, symbol, logo and an optional creator allocation up to 3%. The 0.1 HYPE fee is paid and the rules are written into the contracts.
- 230 minutesGenesis
Anyone except the creator commits HYPE. Timing doesn't matter: every wallet is priced together at the end.
- 3Anyone can run itSettlement
The contract checks the single clearing price itself. Below 10 HYPE the launch fails and deposits are refunded; above 50 HYPE deposits are filled pro rata.
- 4Same transactionPool opens
90% of the raise and matching tokens form a locked pool at the Genesis price. Unused tokens are burned and trading starts.
- 5First 6 hoursProtected trading
Wallets can hold at most 2%, rising to 3%, 5% and 8% before the limit lifts.
Launch rules
Identical for every launch. No creator, investor or administrator can change them.
- Supply
- 1,000,000,000
- Minted once at creation. The token has no mint function and no owner.
- Genesis window
- 30 minutes
- Opens in the same transaction that creates the token. Nobody can position earlier.
- Genesis allocation
- 20% of supply
- Sold at one clearing price to every participating wallet.
- Wallet cap in Genesis
- 2% · 20M tokens
- Counted per address across all deposits. Anything above the cap is refunded.
- Floor price
- 2.3 HYPE per 2%
- 0.000000115 HYPE per token. Genesis sells out at 23 HYPE; from there up to 50 HYPE the price rises for everyone equally.
- Hard cap
- 50 HYPE accepted
- The price stops at 0.00000025 HYPE per token (5 HYPE per 2%). If more is committed, every wallet is filled in proportion to its deposit, up to its 2%, and the rest is refunded.
- Minimum raise
- 10 HYPE accepted
- Below this the launch fails, all tokens are burned and every deposit is refundable in full.
- Minimum deposit
- 0.1 HYPE
- Keeps settlement cheap to verify for everyone.
- Creator allocation
- 0–3%
- Optional. Locked for 7 days, then released linearly over 30 days. The creator address cannot join its own Genesis.
- Liquidity
- 90% of the raise
- Paired with tokens at exactly the Genesis price and locked forever: the pool has no withdraw function.
- Treasury
- 10% of the raise
- Plus the 0.1 HYPE creation fee.
- Unused tokens
- Burned
- Everything not sold, not in the pool and not vested is burned at launch.
- Max wallet after launch
- 2% → 3% → 5% → 8%
- For the first 30 min, 1 h, 3 h and 6 h of trading, measured against the original 1B supply. Unlimited after 6 hours.
- Trading fee
- 2% in HYPE
- 1% to the creator, 1% to the platform (half buys and burns EQX, half to the treasury).
How the Genesis price is set
When Genesis closes, the protocol looks for the lowest price at which the 20% Genesis supply is not oversold, given that no wallet may receive more than 2% of the supply. That price can never go below the floor of 0.000000115 HYPE per token, so the full 2% never costs less than 2.3 HYPE.
The price also has a ceiling of 0.00000025 HYPE per token, where 50 HYPE buys the whole Genesis allocation. If more is committed than that, the price stays at the ceiling and every wallet is filled in the same proportion: its deposit, counted up to its 2%, is scaled down so that exactly 50 HYPE is accepted, and the rest is refunded.
Every wallet then pays that one price. A wallet that committed more than its 2% costs gets the difference back. If demand is light the floor applies and some Genesis tokens go unsold; they are burned rather than given to anyone.
Anyone can trigger settlement. The contract does not trust the caller: it recomputes the allocation for the proposed price and rejects any price that is not exactly the lowest valid one.
| Worked example | Price, HYPE | Accepted | Refunded | Opening mcap | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One wallet commits 50 HYPE | 0.0₆115 | 2.3 | 50 | — | Refunds all |
| Five wallets commit 50 HYPE each | 0.0₆115 | 11.5 | 238.5 | 21.9 | Launches |
| Ten wallets commit 0.99 HYPE each | 0.0₆115 | 9.9 | 9.9 | — | Refunds all |
| Ten wallets commit 2 HYPE each | 0.0₆115 | 20 | 0 | 38 | Launches |
| Ten wallets commit 10 HYPE, three commit 2 | 0.0₆25 | 50 | 56 | 95 | Launches, pro rata |
| Thirty wallets commit 1 HYPE each | 0.0₆15 | 30 | 0 | 57 | Launches |
| 500 wallets commit 100 HYPE each | 0.0₆25 | 50 | 50.0K | 95 | Launches, pro rata |
Calculated with the same code the site uses for live estimates. Amounts in HYPE; opening market cap assumes no creator allocation.
Where a token opens
Genesis tokens that are not sold are burned, so the supply a token opens with depends on demand. The opening market cap ends up at roughly twice the HYPE raised, and the 50 HYPE hard cap puts a ceiling on it.
| HYPE accepted | Price, HYPE | Opening supply | Opening market cap, HYPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 (minimum) | 0.0₆115 | 165–195M | 19–22.5 |
| 23 (Genesis sells out) | 0.0₆115 | 380–410M | 43.7–47.2 |
| 35 | 0.0₆175 | 380–410M | 66.5–71.8 |
| 50 (hard cap) | 0.0₆25 | 380–410M | 95–102.5 |
| Over 50 (pro rata) | 0.0₆25 | 380–410M | 95–102.5 |
Ranges cover a creator allocation of 0% to 3%.
Where the money goes
- 90%
- Paired with tokens in the pool at the Genesis price, locked forever
- 10%
- Platform treasury
- Above the 2% cap
- Refunded to the wallet that sent it
- 1%
- The token's creator, withdrawable at any time
- 0.5%
- Buys EQX on the market and burns it (activates once EQX exists)
- 0.5%
- Platform treasury
The 0.1 HYPE creation fee goes to the treasury. It is not refunded if a launch fails.
Compared with other launchpads
Other platforms vary; this describes the typical design of each model.
| EQUINOX | Bonding-curve launchpads | Presale / allowlist launchpads | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price you pay | The same clearing price as every other Genesis wallet | Rises with each buy, so the earliest buyers pay least | Fixed, but only allowlisted wallets get it |
| First-block snipers | Nothing to snipe. No pool exists until Genesis is settled | Bots typically buy in the first blocks | Insiders and bots race the listing |
| Per-wallet limit | 2% in Genesis, then 2–8% for the first 6 hours | Usually none | Tiers chosen by the project |
| Creator tokens | At most 3%, vested 7 + 30 days, creator blocked from Genesis | Creator can buy at launch like anyone | Team allocations set by the project |
| Liquidity | 90% of the raise, locked forever at the Genesis price | Migrates to a DEX at a threshold; terms vary | Often time-locked and unlockable later |
| Opening valuation | Set by demand between the 10 HYPE minimum and the 50 HYPE hard cap; at most about 100 HYPE market cap | Starts at a fixed low valuation | Set by the project |
| If demand is too low | Launch fails, everyone is refunded 100% | Tokens stay on the curve | Depends on the project |
| Rules can change | No. Fixed in the contracts for every launch | Set by the platform | Set per project |
What the rules cannot do
Fair rules remove structural advantages. They do not make a token a good investment.
- One person, many wallets. Caps apply per address. Nobody can verify who controls a wallet.
- Creator side wallets. Only the registered creator address is blocked from its own Genesis.
- Other pools. Anyone can open a second market for a token elsewhere. Trades there pay no EQUINOX fee.
- Price risk. After launch the price moves freely. Tokens can lose all of their value.
- Software risk. The contracts are tested but have not been independently audited.
Contracts
Deployed on Elysium (chain 99901). Read them, verify them, call them directly.
- Factory0x307865…3f50d0
- Pool (AMM)0x2C1F19…035634
- Fee vault0xCfCFf4…6dECAD
- EQX buyback0x150ef9…08196b
Questions
No. Deposits are only counted when Genesis closes. Every wallet receives tokens at the same clearing price, whether it deposited in the first second or the last.