What are cryptocurrency tokens? What is ERC20?

German Video: coming soon
English Video: coming soon

Token are similar to chips at the casino.
Coins…
Ether…
Use case is important!

Create your own Blockchain? Well, it is distributed and lots of work.

What is the solution?
• Have Colored Coins = these are special coins on Bitcoin (Gold, etc.)
• Have Smart Contracts on ETH = these are typical ICO tokens, also our own, TenX

What does ETH need to run / execute
So, when a user transfers a token to another party, what they’re actually doing, on a technical level, is calling a function on the token’s contract to move the tokens for them, as opposed to them directly issuing tokens from their own wallet.

What is ERC20?
• EIP = BIP - Ethereum improvement protocols (this makes changes to the actual code)
• Ethereum Request for Comments = ERC (more of a suggestion)
• ERC20 token standard proposal = ERC20 smart contract standard

How do Smart Contracts work on a technical level?
There are 6 standardized functions in ERC20 written in Solidity:

Total Supply
Balance Of (owner)
Transfer (to, value)
Transfer (from, to, value)
Approve (spender, value)
Allowance (owner, spender)

Conclusion: Events get broadcasted => transfer Event => approval Event

What are the advantages:
• standardized interactions
• exchanges & wallets have an easy way to list token
• etherscan and other services can integrate easily

What are the downsides:
• There can still be major bugs (DAO)
• One unresolved issue with the ERC20 standard is, that sending tokens directly to a token contract loses your money. It has to do with how token contracts function.

ERC223 – is a newer standard - wants to improve exactly that. An option blocks accidental transactions to random contracts altogether to revert such transactions - not much in use yet - let’s see for future. It is all about standards.

Dr. Julian Hosp is the co-founder of TenX www.tenx.tech.
His personal website can be found here: www.julianhosp.com