ERC20
ERC20 is the Ethereum token standard which is used for Ethereum smart contracts. Developed in 2015, ERC-20 defines a common list of rules that an Ethereum token has to implement. Giving developers the ability to program how new tokens will function within the Ethereum ecosystem. This token protocol became popular with crowdfunding companies via Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
Mercury Protocol’s Global Messaging Token is an example of an application based on ERC20 tokens.
The ERC20 token standard describes the functions and events that an Ethereum token contract has to implement.
Contents
The ERC20 Token Standard Interface
Following is an interface contract declaring the required functions and events to meet the ERC20 standard:
1 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 // ERC Token Standard #20 Interface 3 // https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-20-token-standard.md 4 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 contract ERC20Interface { 6 function totalSupply() public constant returns (uint); 7 function balanceOf(address tokenOwner) public constant returns (uint balance); 8 function allowance(address tokenOwner, address spender) public constant returns (uint remaining); 9 function transfer(address to, uint tokens) public returns (bool success); 10 function approve(address spender, uint tokens) public returns (bool success); 11 function transferFrom(address from, address to, uint tokens) public returns (bool success); 12 13 event Transfer(address indexed from, address indexed to, uint tokens); 14 event Approval(address indexed tokenOwner, address indexed spender, uint tokens); 15 }
Most of the major tokens on the Ethereum blockchain are ERC-20-compliant. The GNT Golem Network Token is only partially-ERC20 blockchain-compliant as it does not implement the approve(...)
, allowance(..)
and transferFrom(...)
functions, and the Approval(...)
event.
Some of the tokens include further information describing the token contract:
1 string public constant name = "Token Name"; 2 string public constant symbol = "SYM"; 3 uint8 public constant decimals = 18; // 18 is the most common number of decimal places
How Does ERC-20 Token Contract Work?
Following is a fragment of a token contract to demonstrate how a token contract maintains the token balance of Ethereum accounts:
1 contract TokenContractFragment { 2 3 // Balances for each account 4 mapping(address => uint256) balances; 5 6 // Owner of account approves the transfer of an amount to another account 7 mapping(address => mapping (address => uint256)) allowed; 8 9 // Get the token balance for account `tokenOwner` 10 function balanceOf(address tokenOwner) public constant returns (uint balance) { 11 return balances[tokenOwner]; 12 } 13 14 // Transfer the balance from owner's account to another account 15 function transfer(address to, uint tokens) public returns (bool success) { 16 balances[msg.sender] = balances[msg.sender].sub(tokens); 17 balances[to] = balances[to].add(tokens); 18 Transfer(msg.sender, to, tokens); 19 return true; 20 } 21 22 // Send `tokens` amount of tokens from address `from` to address `to` 23 // The transferFrom method is used for a withdraw workflow, allowing contracts to send 24 // tokens on your behalf, for example to "deposit" to a contract address and/or to charge 25 // fees in sub-currencies; the command should fail unless the _from account has 26 // deliberately authorized the sender of the message via some mechanism; we propose 27 // these standardized APIs for approval: 28 function transferFrom(address from, address to, uint tokens) public returns (bool success) { 29 balances[from] = balances[from].sub(tokens); 30 allowed[from][msg.sender] = allowed[from][msg.sender].sub(tokens); 31 balances[to] = balances[to].add(tokens); 32 Transfer(from, to, tokens); 33 return true; 34 } 35 36 // Allow `spender` to withdraw from your account, multiple times, up to the `tokens` amount. 37 // If this function is called again it overwrites the current allowance with _value. 38 function approve(address spender, uint tokens) public returns (bool success) { 39 allowed[msg.sender][spender] = tokens; 40 Approval(msg.sender, spender, tokens); 41 return true; 42 } 43 }
Blockchain Token Balance
For an example, assume that this token contract has two token holders:
0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111
with a balance of 100 units0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
with a balance of 200 units
The token contract’s balances
data structure will contain the following information:
balances[0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111] = 100 balances[0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222] = 200
The balanceOf(...)
function will return the following values:
tokenContract.balanceOf(0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111) will return 100 tokenContract.balanceOf(0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222) will return 200
Transfer Token Balance
If 0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111
wants to transfer 10 tokens to 0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
, 0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111
will execute the function:
tokenContract.transfer(0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222, 10)
The token contract’s transfer(...)
function will alter the balances
data structure to contain the following information:
balances[0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111] = 90 balances[0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222] = 210
The balanceOf(...)
function will now return the following values:
tokenContract.balanceOf(0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111) will return 90 tokenContract.balanceOf(0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222) will return 210
Approve And TransferFrom Token Balance
ERC20 Source code If 0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111
wants to authorise 0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
to transfer some tokens to 0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
, 0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111
will execute the function:
tokenContract.approve(0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222, 30)
The approve
data structure will now contain the following information:
tokenContract.allowed[0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111][0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222] = 30
If 0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
wants to later transfer some tokens from 0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111
to itself, 0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
executes the transferFrom(...)
function:
tokenContract.transferFrom(0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111, 0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222, 20)
The balances
data structure will be altered to contain the following information:
tokenContract.balances[0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111] = 70 tokenContract.balances[0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222] = 230
And the approve
data structure will now contain the following information:
tokenContract.allowed[0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111][0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222] = 10
0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222
can still spend 10 tokens from 0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111
.
The balanceOf(...)
function will now return the following values:
tokenContract.balanceOf(0x1111111111111111111111111111111111111111) will return 70 tokenContract.balanceOf(0x2222222222222222222222222222222222222222) will return 230
Sample Fixed Supply Token Contract
Following is a sample Fixed Supply Token contract with a fixed supply of 1,000,000 units that are initially assigned to the owner of the contract. This token has 18 decimal places: ERC20 Code:
1 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT 2 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 // 'FIXED' 'Example Fixed Supply Token' token contract 4 // 5 // Symbol : FIXED 6 // Name : Example Fixed Supply Token 7 // Total supply: 1,000,000.000000000000000000 8 // Decimals : 18 9 // 10 // Enjoy. 11 // 12 // (c) BokkyPooBah / Bok Consulting Pty Ltd 2018. The MIT Licence. 13 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 15 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 // Updated : To support Solidity version 0.6.12 17 // Programmer : Ts. Dr. Mohd Anuar Mat Isa, PhDs (EE & CS), iExplotech & IPTM Secretariat (www.iexplotech.com) 18 // Link : https://github.com/iexplotech/SmartContract/blob/master/FixedSupplyToken_0.6.x.sol 19 // Tested : Remix IDE, 10 Nov 2020 20 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 22 pragma solidity ^0.6.12; 23 24 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 // Safe maths 26 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 library SafeMath { 28 function add(uint a, uint b) internal pure returns (uint c) { 29 c = a + b; 30 require(c >= a); 31 } 32 function sub(uint a, uint b) internal pure returns (uint c) { 33 require(b <= a); 34 c = a - b; 35 } 36 function mul(uint a, uint b) internal pure returns (uint c) { 37 c = a * b; 38 require(a == 0 || c / a == b); 39 } 40 function div(uint a, uint b) internal pure returns (uint c) { 41 require(b > 0); 42 c = a / b; 43 } 44 } 45 46 47 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 // ERC Token Standard #20 Interface 49 // https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-20.md 50 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51 interface ERC20Interface { 52 function totalSupply() external view returns (uint); 53 function balanceOf(address tokenOwner) external view returns (uint balance); 54 function allowance(address tokenOwner, address spender) external view returns (uint remaining); 55 function transfer(address to, uint tokens) external returns (bool success); 56 function approve(address spender, uint tokens) external returns (bool success); 57 function transferFrom(address from, address to, uint tokens) external returns (bool success); 58 59 event Transfer(address indexed from, address indexed to, uint tokens); 60 event Approval(address indexed tokenOwner, address indexed spender, uint tokens); 61 } 62 63 64 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65 // Contract function to receive approval and execute function in one call 66 // 67 // Borrowed from MiniMeToken 68 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 69 interface ApproveAndCallFallBack { 70 function receiveApproval(address from, uint256 tokens, address token, bytes memory data) external; 71 } 72 73 74 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 75 // Owned contract 76 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 77 contract Owned { 78 address payable public owner; 79 address payable public newOwner; 80 81 event OwnershipTransferred(address indexed _from, address indexed _to); 82 83 constructor() public { 84 owner = msg.sender; 85 } 86 87 modifier onlyOwner { 88 require(msg.sender == owner); 89 _; 90 } 91 92 function transferOwnership(address payable _newOwner) public onlyOwner { 93 newOwner = _newOwner; 94 } 95 function acceptOwnership() public { 96 require(msg.sender == newOwner); 97 emit OwnershipTransferred(owner, newOwner); 98 owner = newOwner; 99 newOwner = address(0); 100 } 101 } 102 103 104 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 105 // ERC20 Token, with the addition of symbol, name and decimals and a 106 // fixed supply 107 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 108 contract FixedSupplyToken is ERC20Interface, Owned { 109 using SafeMath for uint; 110 111 string public symbol; 112 string public name; 113 uint8 public decimals; 114 uint _totalSupply; 115 116 mapping(address => uint) balances; 117 mapping(address => mapping(address => uint)) allowed; 118 119 120 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 121 // Constructor 122 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 123 constructor() public { 124 symbol = "FIXED"; 125 name = "Example Fixed Supply Token"; 126 decimals = 18; 127 _totalSupply = 1000000 * 10**uint(decimals); 128 balances[owner] = _totalSupply; 129 emit Transfer(address(0), owner, _totalSupply); 130 } 131 132 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 133 // Total supply 134 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 135 function totalSupply() public view virtual override returns (uint) { 136 return _totalSupply.sub(balances[address(0)]); 137 } 138 139 140 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 141 // Get the token balance for account `tokenOwner` 142 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 143 function balanceOf(address tokenOwner) public view virtual override returns (uint balance) { 144 return balances[tokenOwner]; 145 } 146 147 148 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 149 // Transfer the balance from token owner's account to `to` account 150 // - Owner's account must have sufficient balance to transfer 151 // - 0 value transfers are allowed 152 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 153 function transfer(address to, uint tokens) public virtual override returns (bool success) { 154 balances[msg.sender] = balances[msg.sender].sub(tokens); 155 balances[to] = balances[to].add(tokens); 156 emit Transfer(msg.sender, to, tokens); 157 return true; 158 } 159 160 161 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 162 // Token owner can approve for `spender` to transferFrom(...) `tokens` 163 // from the token owner's account 164 // 165 // https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/blob/master/EIPS/eip-20-token-standard.md 166 // recommends that there are no checks for the approval double-spend attack 167 // as this should be implemented in user interfaces 168 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 169 function approve(address spender, uint tokens) public virtual override returns (bool success) { 170 allowed[msg.sender][spender] = tokens; 171 emit Approval(msg.sender, spender, tokens); 172 return true; 173 } 174 175 176 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 177 // Transfer `tokens` from the `from` account to the `to` account 178 // 179 // The calling account must already have sufficient tokens approve(...)-d 180 // for spending from the `from` account and 181 // - From account must have sufficient balance to transfer 182 // - Spender must have sufficient allowance to transfer 183 // - 0 value transfers are allowed 184 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 185 function transferFrom(address from, address to, uint tokens) public virtual override returns (bool success) { 186 balances[from] = balances[from].sub(tokens); 187 allowed[from][msg.sender] = allowed[from][msg.sender].sub(tokens); 188 balances[to] = balances[to].add(tokens); 189 emit Transfer(from, to, tokens); 190 return true; 191 } 192 193 194 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 195 // Returns the amount of tokens approved by the owner that can be 196 // transferred to the spender's account 197 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 198 function allowance(address tokenOwner, address spender) public view virtual override returns (uint remaining) { 199 return allowed[tokenOwner][spender]; 200 } 201 202 203 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 204 // Token owner can approve for `spender` to transferFrom(...) `tokens` 205 // from the token owner's account. The `spender` contract function 206 // `receiveApproval(...)` is then executed 207 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 208 function approveAndCall(address spender, uint tokens, bytes memory data) public returns (bool success) { 209 allowed[msg.sender][spender] = tokens; 210 emit Approval(msg.sender, spender, tokens); 211 ApproveAndCallFallBack(spender).receiveApproval(msg.sender, tokens, address(this), data); 212 return true; 213 } 214 215 216 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 217 // Don't accept ETH 218 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 219 fallback () external { 220 revert("Not Accepting Ether"); 221 } 222 223 224 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 225 // Owner can transfer out any accidentally sent ERC20 tokens 226 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 227 function transferAnyERC20Token(address tokenAddress, uint tokens) public onlyOwner returns (bool success) { 228 return ERC20Interface(tokenAddress).transfer(owner, tokens); 229 } 230 }
See How to issue your own token on Ethereum in less than 20 minutes for steps to deploy a token contract.
Further Information On ERC20 network and platform for tokens
- Ethereum.org Token page: https://www.ethereum.org/token.
- Etherscan token selection of popular tokens: https://etherscan.io/tokens
- EtherScan ERC20 token search: https://etherscan.io/token-search
- The HumanStandardToken: a specialisation of ERC20 that provides a name, decimals, symbol and version as public variables, so these can be read from the contract and do not need to be configured: https://github.com/ConsenSys/Tokens/blob/master/Token_Contracts/contracts/HumanStandardToken.sol
- Token Factory, an application that lets you create these tokens, just to play around with: https://tokenfactory.surge.sh
- ERC 20 Blockchain Libraries:
- OpenZeppelin: https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/zeppelin-solidity/tree/master/contracts/token
- Minime token contract that allows to clone itself, so it can be used for things like voting, or even splitting off a token for a separate application: https://github.com/Giveth/minime