ERC-20: The standard that changed crypto

screenshot_gains · 2026-01-09T15:12:05+00:00

ERC-20 is a standard for tokens on the Ethereum network, ensuring compatibility across wallets and decentralized applications. It revolutionized the crypto industry by enabling easy token creation, fostering the growth of the token economy and ICOs.

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2026-01-09 15:12:05

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When we talk about tokens on Ethereum, we are mostly referring to ERC-20. It is not just a technical specification — it is the foundation of the entire ecosystem of decentralized applications and cryptographic assets we see today.

What is ERC-20?

Essentially, it is a set of standard rules and interfaces that all tokens on the Ethereum network must follow. Thanks to this unified format, any token created according to ERC-20 works equally well with all wallets and decentralized applications. You can send tokens to any address, use them on any DEX or in any DeFi protocol, and everything will work as expected.

Why is this so important?

Before the advent of ERC-20, each project created its tokens according to its own rules. This would have led to chaos — wallets wouldn’t know how to handle different tokens, and DApps wouldn’t be able to use them. ERC-20 solved this problem through unification: all tokens operate on a single protocol, making the Ethereum ecosystem compatible and scalable.

Revolution in the crypto industry

It was thanks to the ERC-20 standard that the explosion of token economics development occurred. Initial coin offerings (ICO) were largely made possible because projects could easily and quickly create tokens without developing their own blockchain. Hundreds of startups used ERC-20 to attract investments, and today most well-known tokens adhere to this standard.

The simplicity and reliability of ERC-20 have made it the foundation upon which all modern crypto-economics are built.

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