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Crypto Guides

What Should You Know About ERC-20 Tokens?

Introduction

ERC-20 tokens are dedicatedly used on the Ethereum platform. These tokens represent a wide range of digital assets and feature value and can be used as a mode of transaction. Presently, there are over 200,000 ERC-20 tokens available on the Ethereum blockchain. It is an official protocol, which extends advancements in the Ethereum network. ERC is an abbreviation for Ethereum Request for Comment, and the 20 is referred to as the proposal identifier. 

The Core ERC-20 Standard

Creating a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain is quite simple. This allows users to create different forms of tokens. The standard basically offers core functionality to transfer and allow tokens to be authenticated so that other on-chain third parties can use them. The standard interface enables tokens on this platform to be used again by other applications.

The ERC-20 standard is basically a list of events and functions that each contract needs to integrate to adhere to the standard. The name, behaviour, supply, and ticker of the contract can differ from one another, but they need to execute the core functions of ERC-20.

Smart Contract and Ethereum

Smart contracts are leveraged to generate ERC-20 tokens. They are also used to execute transactions of these tokens and record token balance information. These contracts are written in the programming language centring on the “If-This-Then-That” approach. Once the tokens have been created, they can be traded, spent, or offered to other parties. These tokens are basically universal languages that are used by all the tokens present in the Ethereum network. The unified approach allows trading of one token with another.

How to Send and Receive ERC-20 Tokens?

When sending an ERC-20 token, you are indicating the token contract to initiate a transfer operation. To execute a contract on Ethereum blockchain will need a fraction of Gas (Ether). Considering that Ether is used during the process, it is vital to ensure that the users have sufficient Ethereum Balance. 

Moreover, people can receive ERC-20 tokens by sending their wallet address. Considering that these tokens only exist in Ethereum blockchain, users can only use Ethereum addresses. 

Benefits of ERC-20 Tokens 

There are tons of benefits that ERC-20 offer that we would not find in any other tokens. It envisions to optimise the usage of the accounts by making transactions more efficient and convenient. By amalgamating different sources, these tokens create an ideal zone for constant token creation. And when it comes to efficiency and speed, ERC-20 stands at the forefront. And this is the reason why tokens hold such a massive adoption.

Efficiency and speed are two important facets of cryptocurrency trading, and ERC20 tokens do not disappoint in this regard. Its core structure offers unparalleled speed and efficiency. This easy to use token makes it easier for traders to leverage most of the blockchain technology.

It is not challenging to acquire ERC20 tokens these days; we can even develop it ourselves. It is considered one of the best payment methods for businesses, and its streamlined process makes the transactions easier for both sender and receiver. Cheers! 

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Crypto Guides

What Are The Different Business Models Based On Blockchain Technology?

Introduction

With the invention of bitcoin, Blockchain has become mainstream. Industry experts in almost all industries are exploring Blockchain to change their business models to make use of decentralization to achieve more transparency, thereby gaining more profits. The business model is nothing but how the business is operated to make money ultimately.

With features like immutability, transparency, and decentralization, Blockchain can create ripples in any industry that haven’t seen much change for some decades. Blockchain’s mainstream application has been in finance, which has seen rapid changes though Blockchain hasn’t been implemented to a considerable extent yet.

Implementing Blockchain isn’t an easy task. Hence, one should consider all the available technologies first and implement Blockchain only if any other current technology doesn’t make the same impact of Blockchain if implemented. The technology shouldn’t be useful not only for the business but for the end-users as well.

Let us look at some of the blockchain business models below:

Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)

The days are gone where the businesses try to host everything on their own. Investing in large servers, hiring staff to maintain them is a costly process, and no one wants to do it anymore unless they have large amounts of money to burn. Hence everyone wants to move to the cloud. When it comes to Blockchain, if one has to set up a blockchain network, they must search for blockchain experts who are rare and costly to obtain the talent, if any.

Train your existing staff, which is again time-consuming; hence BaaS plays a vital role in implementing Blockchain in any business. Blockchain as a Service is also provided by cloud providers where a lot of scary backend stuff can be set up and maintained by them while the business can only focus on their business. Large cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM, Oracle are already offering BaaS services.

Securities

Securities is one of the exact innovational models which didn’t exist before Blockchain. Security tokens offer ownership of an asset. A token can be classified as a security token if a profit is expected from the primary asset linked to the digital asset.

For example, a piece of gold bar say 1kg can be owned by multiple people in the form of security tokens as the price of the gold increases the value of the security token increases and vice versa. If the ICO of such tokens is adequately implemented with all the rules abided, the security tokens have immense opportunities.

Utility Tokens

Whenever we buy some material things, we look at the utility of the material to gauge our satisfaction. Utility tokens do the same thing in the businesses they use. Each utility tokens have a purpose, role, and features in the environment they are used to. In our articles, we have seen DAO’s, which can be accumulated to deserve the voting rights for the DAPPs to be developed.

DAO’s are a perfect example of Utility tokens. Ripple acts as a utility token in the banks involved with the Ripple ecosystem. The tokens can be used as a currency as well in the confined environment. The value of the utility tokens increases depending on the number of roles and purposes it has in the intended environment.

Development Platforms

Development platforms like Ethereum, Hyperledger, Tron play a vital role in the augmentation of blockchain technology. The development of DAPPs on these platforms is secure in implementing the technology as, by default, they offer Blockchain’s fundamental properties. The more DAPP’s in the network, the more influential the platform will be as more people will be using the same.

The deployment of DAPPs in the Ethereum platform needs the payment in terms of Gas, the platform’s local currency, which allows one to use it. In the same way, to use the Neo platform, users have to pay in Gas, the platform’s local currency. Even the DAPPs may collect a nominal fee in terms of Gas again to use the apps, thus improving the functionality continuously.