The crypto industry consists of various kinds of coins and tokens.
But crypto tokens can be categorized into smaller groups, such as ERC-20, BEP-20, and TRC-20.
But what’s the difference between these token types, and in what ways are they similar?
What Is an ERC-20 Token?
If you’re somewhat familiar with crypto, you’ve probably heard about Ethereum or Ether.
This is one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies on the market, second in popularity only to Bitcoin.
Image Credit: Satheesh Sankaran/Flickr
But Ethereum isn’t just a cryptocurrency.
It is the native asset of a blockchain that goes by the same name.
Most fungible crypto tokens created on the Ethereum blockchain are ERC-20 tokens.
Image Credit: Satheesh Sankaran/Flickr
This would allow holders of that token to participate in the platform’s decision-making process.
All tokens created on top of the Ethereum blockchain are known as just that, tokens.
However, Ether itself is known as a coin because it is the native asset of the entire blockchain.
Image Credit: Satheesh Sankaran/Flickr
What Is a BEP-20 Token?
The BNB Smart Chain was once known as the Binance Smart Chain.
This name may sound familiar, as Binance is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
The BNB Chain ecosystem consists of two main chains: the BNB Beacon Chain and the BNB Smart Chain.
It is the BNB Smart Chain that BEP-20 tokens exist on.
What Is a TRC-20 Token?
TRC-20 (short for TRON Request for Comment) is a token standard on theTRON blockchain.
The TRON blockchain’s native cryptocurrency is TRON (TRX), which is also a TRC-20 token.
However, because this is a crypto with its own blockchain, it is often considered a coin.
Like the two previously discussed blockchains here, TRON has a standard for NFTs known as TRC-721.
Unlike TRC-20, TRC-10 tokens aren’t dependent on the Tron Virtual Machine (TVM).
These tokens are commonly used as ICO tokens for TRON-based projects.
Take Tether (USDT), for example, a popular stablecoin.
Tether exists on Ethereum, TRON, and the BNB Smart Chain.
USDC comes in the form of ERC-20, BEP-20, and TRC-20.
But it’s not just stablecoins that can exist across multiple blockchains.
