According to Ethereum data provider, Etherscan, there are currently over 830 projects which are based on the ERC-20 token standard with over 350,000 token contracts. This is undoubtedly the most popular standard for token issuance today. Some of the leading crypto projects with native tokens that are based on the ERC-20 framework include Chainlink (LINK), LiquidiFy (LQD), VeChain (VET), Zilliqa (ZIL).
What is the ERC-20?
ERC-20, which stands for Ethereum Request for Comment, with 20 as the proposal identifier, is a technical standard for creating tokens across the Ethereum (ETH) network. It is now utilized for all smart contracts across the Ethereum network, and it gives a list of rules that Ethereum token issuers must follow. These include 6 obligatory rules and 3 optional:
Optional
- Token Name
- Symbol
- Decimal (up to 18)
Mandatory
- totalSupply
- balanceOf
- transfer
- transferFrom
- approve
- allowance
The ERC-20 Ethereum token protocol enables issuers to create fungible tokens that are standardized across the multiple Ethereum blockchains for complete interoperability. The ERC-20 standard can now be seen in many areas of the crypto sphere including across stablecoins like Tether, which is also an ERC-20 token.
Every token that is issued has its own unique proposition. Some examples include dishing out rewards to users for staking their tokens, others allow self-governance, meaning allowing users to decide for themselves the future of any protocol by giving them voting rights, these tokens can validate ownership rights over an asset, such as gold and enable crowdfunding. ERC-20 tokens are often sold early as a means to bring capital to particular projects.
Some Leading ERC-20 Projects
Many major projects now choose to go in the direction of ERC-20 for their tokens. These include:
Chainlink, one of the most well-known projects using ERC-20 under the hood, is an oracle network that gives reliable, tamper-proof inputs and outputs for rather complex smart contracts across any blockchain.
LiquidiFy, another ERC-20 protocol that is working on offering users access to niche long-tail assets, gives it users near-instant transfers and swaps, with only them having control over their funds, it also offers ERC-20 token support and Gas free transfers and swaps which is a major benefit, when everyone is complaining about Ethereum’s High gas fees.
For developers, it offers near-instant transactions, the ability to build scalable dApps, it also supports micropayments and swaps and its SDK has been built with usability in mind.
Tether, which is one of the most popular stablecoins to date, is built as an ERC-20 token. It was launched in 2014 and was one of the very first cryptos to peg its value to a fiat currency.
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