If you’re in Web3 or building your own NFT project, chances are you’ve probably considered creating your own token as an added incentive to your community.
More often than not tokens are created as a project-linked currency of sorts.
Tokens can be used for a number of things including processing transactions; acting as a store of value; buying assets on a platform; voting rights in a dApp and crowdfunding.
What you need to know about creating a token
Like most things NFT-related, there’s some important information to consider before jumping in and creating your very own token.
Fortunately, we’ve made it super simple and consolidated all the essential juicy bits that you need to know.
In this piece we’ll cover the following:
- Types of tokens (chains)
- How to mint your own
- Some links to mint your own
Types of tokens (chains)
As you may have guessed, the token you create will ultimately be determined by the chain your NFT project is being built on and the direction your project is taking.
There are three main chains that founders are minting their own tokens on, namely Binance, Ethereum, and Polygon.
Each chain essentially has its own token so you’ll have to decide which you’ll be building on or which ecosystem you’ll be attracting.
These tokens are:
- BEP-20 (Binance Smart Chain)
- ERC-20 (Ethereum)
- MRC-20 (Polygon)
Cost and standards are major contributing factors when it comes to deciding which to go with. There are a number of reasons why you would choose to opt for one chain over another.
These include but aren’t limited to gas fees; requirements of the chain; transaction fees and security. Ethereum wins when it comes to security solely because it takes longer for verification (which can prove to be a pain sometimes).
However, there are a few flaws with the Ethereum model as we pointed out in our previous piece.
Ethereum is on the losing end when it comes to the other factors namely cost, speed, and requirements. BEP-20 for example is held to a much higher standard due to the fact they have stronger requirements than ERC-20.
BEP-20 transactions can be as quick as 3 seconds, whereas ERC-20 can exceed 15 seconds per transaction and with the flaw in scalability, the Ethereum chain is bogged down quite a bit when it comes to their transactions per second.
On the cost side, platforms like Coinmanufactory offer users the option of which coin they would like to create and outline the costs associated with each.
Here they are (subject to change)
- BEP-20 will cost you 0.1BNB
- ERC-20 will cost you 0.03ETH
- MRC-20 will cost you as little as 37MATIC (we have seen it go up to around 200MATIC)
How to mint your own token
Okay, so by now you should already know which chain you’ll be working on. Now we’ll run through the general SOPs for creating your token, what you’ll need to have available, and the next steps.
Regardless of the platform you’re using to create your token, the first step would be to connect your wallet so the transaction can go through.
Please also ensure you have sufficient funds in your wallet in the correct currency of the chain you’ll be going with.
Next, you’ll need project specifics which include the token name, symbol and image* along with the quantity you want to make available and decimals (the standard is 18 but you can change that should you wish to).
Finally, you’ll need to decide how your token can be worked with in the future. Most of the platforms will give you the same but some may offer more or less.
These include:
- Burnable (tokens can be burnt to decrease supply)
- Mintable (tokens can be minted to increase supply)
- Fees/Taxes
- Holder redistribution
Where to mint your own
Great, now that you have an understanding of what type of tokens you can create, what they can be used for, and how to do it you’ll need to know where to go, right?
Here’s a list of platforms that allow you to create your own token:
As with everything in crypto, web3, and NFTs, it is important to Do Your Own Research (DYOR) before actioning anything.
The platforms we have listed above have their own terms and policies in place for a reason so we advise you to familiarise yourself with the platform and chain requirements before creating your own token.
Many of the platforms mentioned above give guides and videos on how to create your own token and the benefits – we suggest you also take a moment to go through them before diving in.
We wish you the very best in this journey and feel free to browse through our other articles.