Crypto Token Standards across Different Blockchains : Comparison Guide

As most of us know - blockchain technology is continuously evolving, bringing with it many distinct and diverse platforms.

Each of these platforms has its respective token standards to create the tokenized assets, define standards for interoperability, functionalities, and seamless connection to the wallets, exchanges, or dApps.

What are Cryptocurrency Token Standards?

Crypto Token development standards are pre-defined technical protocols that explain how they should be implemented, interpreted, and interact with tokens on the blockchain. The current consensus within a blockchain will thus be to conform tokens to what is predefined from the standards to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in how tokens engage and interact in the entire ecosystem. Comprehensible across all blockchains, therefore, they are defined based on the overall architecture of a blockchain, its intended functional domains, and the same audience with which it was built, but all tend to enhance usability, security, and scalability of tokens.

Ethereum Token Standards

Ethereum tokenizes the very first ever blockchain and has some of the hottest token standards.

ERC-20: The Standard for Fungible Tokens

Withstood internationally and by far the most-utilized framework of fungible tokens-assets which have no difference but are uniform, USDT (Tether), DAI, and other tokens use this standard. Six required and three optional functions have been defined in ERC-20, thus it integrates wallets and dApps seamlessly. Its widespread application has made it a pillar in DeFi (Decentralized Finance).

ERC-721: Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

ERC-721 is, thus, also the standard for uniquely partitioned assets since this is the one that defines NFTs, allowing art, collectibles, and real estate to be tokenized. An ERC-721 token marks itself as unique, because it has a metadata listing the distinct properties that can be used for applications that require difference.

ERC-1155: Multi-Token Standard

ERC-1155 amalgamates characteristics of fungible and non-fungible tokens in one contract. This made it more favorable for the gaming and digital collectible industry as hybrid assets are commonly used. Because of its batch transfer capability, this multi-token standard saves much more gas compared to ERC-20 or ERC-721 token transfers.

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) Token Standards

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) is the alternative blockchain to Ethereum that is faster, cheaper, and more scalable with proper token standards that are development friendly towards speed and interoperability.

BEP-20: This is a flexible fungible token standard

BEP-20 is the main fungible token standard on BSC. Originally inspired by ERC-20, it now adds functionalities in minting and burning such tokens, while remaining compatible with Binance Chain's BEP-2 tokens for seamless cross-chain activity, making it useful for a range of applications-from DeFi to utility tokens, and beyond.

BEP-721 and BEP-1155: For NFTs and Multi-tokens

BEP-721 and BEP-1155 simply replicate the NFT and multi-token standards in Ethereum with the advantage of cost-saving low transaction fees and faster block time for BSC users. The most commonly used standards for gaming platforms, digital marketplace, and collectibles in the Binance ecosystem are these two standards.

Solana Token Standards

This is how Solana defines SPL, the token standard, considering its outstanding performance in throughput and latency-low blockchain. 

SPL Tokens: High-Performance Tokenization

Designed for Solana\'s fast and efficient network, the SPL specification is capable of working for fungible and non-fungible tokens. Being built on top of Solana's highly parallelized execution set-up, SPL tokens are very promising for large-scale applications such as decentralized exchanges (DEX) or gaming ecosystem. Furthermore, the benefits of Solana, in terms of cheapness and scalability, are very attractive to projects with high-frequency transaction requirements.

Polygon Token Standards

Polygon provides adaptation to Ethereum standards regarding tokens while solving the scalability issues that slow one-facing other transactional standards.

Polygon-Compatible Erc Standards

Polygon is all set to have Ethereum token standards like ERC-20, ERC-721, and ERC-1155. This gives it an entirely compatibility of the Ethereum ecosystem. The tokens can be drafted over Polygon that will ensure the lower transaction cost and faster finality. Thus, the double compatibility makes it an excellent choice for projects willing to work both in Ethereum and its sidechains.

Avalanche Token Standards

With its own AVAX ecosystem, the high-speed low-cost blockchain infrastructure of Avalanche is second to none.

Avalanche Token Standards: Public and EMV Compatible

The support of Ethereum-compatible token standards (ERC-20, ERC-721) within its C-Chain (Contract Chain) is complemented by the capability of native tokens on the X-Chain (Exchange Chain) whereby developers can build assets optimized for decentralized exchanges or applications warranted with smart contract functionality.

Cardano Token Standards

Once again, Cardano chooses a different path by having native assets rather than smart contracts for tokenization.

Cardano’s Native Tokens

Unlike the use of smart contracts on Ethereum and BSC, Cardano has designed its minting of native tokens directly into its blockchain. This makes minting simpler and doesn't incur gas fees but encourages simplicity and inexpensive tokenization, an attractive trait for many projects.

Comparative Analysis:

Conclusion 

Choosing the best standard for the tokens will depend on what the specific project requires. Ethereum stands at the top as there is a larger ecosystem and dominance in DeFi, with BSC and Polygon alternatives for cheaper rates. High performance is met by Solana and Avalanche, while Cardano presents an easier way of creating crypto tokens with native assets. With this understanding of the standards, you can choose what blockchain platform to put your project in respect to those goals since this will lead to much efficiency and effectiveness of your token within its ecosystem.