Understand where the money goes
Account for the trade fee, creator distribution, protocol share and graduation funds.
TL;DR
- The current trading fee is 2% on the bonding curve and 1% after graduation; in both stages, half is the creator side and half is the protocol side.
- The creator side accrues until distributed across holders, named wallets, buyback and burn, or liquidity according to the coin’s 100% split.
- At graduation, half the curve ETH seeds liquidity. One quarter goes to creator earnings and one quarter goes to the protocol.
Orbit separates trading fees from network gas, then routes the trading fee between the coin side and protocol side. Accrual, distribution and graduation are different events.
ETH fee flow
One trade, two accountable sides
The current trade split
| Stage | Total fee | Creator side | Protocol side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonding curve | 2% | 1% | 1% |
| Graduated pool | 1% | 0.5% | 0.5% |
The fee applies to buys and sells. Gas is separate and goes to the Base Chain network, not Orbit or the creator. A curve trade with more than 10% price impact may also pay an impact fee; exactly 10% adds no impact fee, and the ramp begins above it. That additional amount goes to the protocol side and responds to the movement caused by the trade, not trader identity.
What happens to the creator side
The creator half does not automatically arrive in a personal wallet. It accrues for the coin until a distribution is triggered. The active split must total 100% across:
- Holder rewards.
- Up to 20 named wallets, including the owner’s own wallet when configured.
- Buyback and burn.
- Liquidity.
The platform default is 50% to holders, 25% to buyback and burn, and 25% to liquidity, but each coin can use its own valid split. A post-deployment change has a seven-day delay. Distribution is an action, not a guaranteed schedule, and the settlement and holder-claim product controls are currently gated.
What happens to the protocol side
The current protocol-share routing has four distinct recipient legs:
| Recipient label | Share |
|---|---|
| Orbit Owners Club (OOC) | 51% |
| Team | 25% |
| Management Fund | 12% |
| GORG Token | 12% |
OOC means Orbit Owners Club. Team, Management Fund and GORG Token are the other recipient labels defined by the routing contract; the label does not establish a broader purpose for the GORG Token leg. These percentages are governance settings, so an update changes future protocol-fee routing for existing coins as well as new ones.
The one-off graduation split
When the curve graduates, the ETH it collected is divided separately from the per-trade fee:
| Destination | Share |
|---|---|
| Burn-address founding liquidity | Half |
| Creator earnings | One quarter |
| Protocol | One quarter |
The 200 million reserved tokens form the token side of the full-range liquidity position. Its LP NFT is transferred to the standard burn address. There is no known private key and no protocol recovery path, making it effectively irrecoverable rather than administratively locked.
For the trade-shape rules around the impact fee, token provenance and graduation handoff, see Orbit’s contract protections.
Good to know
Accrued does not mean paid. A coin can generate creator-side fees without a completed distribution, and a holder should not count an advertised reward until the product shows it as claimable and the claim succeeds.
Common questions
Does a 50% holder allocation mean holders receive half of every trade fee?
No. The trading fee first splits into creator and protocol halves. The coin’s 100% allocation divides only the creator side. Decide how your coin earns explains that launch decision.
When does an accrued creator-side amount reach its destinations?
Only when a distribution action is triggered and the relevant product controls permit it. There is no automatic distribution schedule, and a recorded amount is not the same as a completed payment or claim.
Can Orbit or the creator withdraw the founding liquidity later?
The full-range LP NFT goes to the standard burn address. With no known private key and no protocol recovery path, it is effectively irrecoverable rather than an administratively releasable lock.