Beginner’s Guide to Trading Crypto. Part 9

Cryptocurrency Coin Vs Token: The Hierophants Of The Crypto Market

The cryptocurrencies market is rapidly changing as new terms are emerging along with their technological backing. But no matter how advanced blockchain technologies may become, the fundamental pillars of the market are the token and the coin. The irony is that many market participants do not yet know the difference between the two terms, or may even consider knowing those differences redundant. That is a pity, since the crypto coin vs token dilemma has been around for years and can never have too much explanation.

What Is A Token?

The token is the most basic form of asset available on the crypto market. Tokens are digital assets, which are issued by a project on the blockchain. Their main purpose is serving as means of payment for goods and services within the framework of the project ecosystem. They also grant their holders the right of participation in the network through joining groups or even voting much like a share on the financial market.

There are two types of tokens, the utility and security tokens. Utility tokens are exactly what their name implies, they are used as means for achieving a goal, much like a token in the subway, which, once entered into the machine, will give the holder the right to take a ride. On the other hand, security tokens are representative of a project’s share and give their holders the right to expect profit in the future much like a security on the financial market.

The most comment abbreviation on the market is ERC-20 and many people would ask “What are ERC-20 tokens?” There are two main types of standards for tokens, the ERC-20 and the ERC-721. ERC-20, or Ethereum Request For Comment (20 stands for the number assigned to the standard by the programmers) is the most popular programming standard used for the operation of smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. ERC-721 is much less frequently encountered, but it is a free and open standard as well. It is used for building non-fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Unlike ERC-20 tokens, which are all the same in their standard, each ERC-721 token is unique by virtue of its nature.

There are many other standards on the market with their own unique characteristics, for example ERC-223, which is a variation of ERC-20 with added functionality, the ERC-777, which is an improved version of ERC-20. There are also the ERC-1155, ERC-1337 and others.

What Is A Coin?

Coins are the firstborn of the crypto market with the greatest value. Coins are the original digital money built on the basis of cryptographic technologies with blockchain at their core. Just like money, coins were designed to hold value and bear it over time. The blockchain serves as the substitute for banks and provides transparency and fraud-free operation for coins. Coins have many of the main characteristics of money, since they are fungible, divisible into smaller portions, acceptable as an equivalent of money at outlets for goods and services, portable like cash or bank cards, durable thanks to their electronic nature, and have a limited supply, or emission. Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin, Monero and many others are coins.

Two of the main characteristics of coins that set them apart from all other assets are:

1. Coins can be mined from a limited emission pool, and they can be sent or received like ordinary money;
2. Coins are meant to act only as money and are not used in any particular project as an asset for receiving goods or services provided by that project.

The Difference Between Coins And Tokens

If we were to sum up the crypto token vs coin dilemma, then we have to look at the essence of the coins and tokens together.

Coins are money that does not act within the framework of any project as a means of gaining goods or services, they act as a store of value and either appreciate or depreciate over time, and coins can be mined from a limited issuance pool.

Tokens cannot be mined, they act as either utility assets granting access to goods and services within the framework of a specific project, or as a security and share equivalent of a project. They are non-fungible and can be bought at exchanges from the issuing projects. Most tokens are pre-mined and cannot be mined beyond the limited issuance.

Coin Vs Token: Where To Buy?

Coins and tokens can be bought or sold on exchanges. The most popular means of buying tokens and coins is through the use of US Dollars or other Coins. Tokens cannot be exchanged for other tokens in essence, since exchanges operate with coins or fiat currencies, like the US Dollar. To buy the tokens of a project, traders must either use fiat currencies or buy coins and then buy the tokens. The same applies for coins, which can only be bought for other coins or fiat currencies.

There are dozens of exchanges on the market, but one of the most convenient is Binance. We invite everyone to visit Binance and try it out to evaluate its convenience and broad range of functions.

Forming Up

The ICO phenomenon swept across the market in 2017-2018, but few actually thought that the ICO, or Initial Coin Offering is not the same as an ITO, or Initial Token Offering. Most projects that went under the title of an ICO did not offer coins, but tokens. Therefore, before launching an asset, a project must first decide what its asset is – a coin or a token.

If we consider the ICO token vs coin dilemma in general, it is important to understand that only coins bear value like money in general, while tokens are confined to a certain project and only grant access to its goods or services.

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