Key Takeaways
You understand why creating a token on Ethereum costs $50 while Solana costs $0.02. The difference isn't just price—it's architecture. Solana's single SPL Token program creates universal compatibility. Ethereum's per-token contracts create fragmentation.
You know how mint accounts define tokens, token accounts hold balances, and Associated Token Accounts provide deterministic addressing. You understand mint authority controls supply, freeze authority controls transfers, and Token-2022 extends capabilities without breaking compatibility.
This knowledge prepares you for implementation: creating tokens, managing supply, building token applications, integrating with DeFi protocols.
What You Learned
Solana's account-based token model:
Mint accounts act as token birth certificates—defining supply, decimals, authorities. Token accounts hold per-owner balances. ATAs provide deterministic addresses everyone can calculate. This separation enables parallel processing and explicit permissions.
Supply control and authorities:
Mint authority determines whether supply is fixed or flexible. USDC has mint authority (Circle mints against USD deposits). BONK has none (fixed 93 trillion supply). Freeze authority enables compliance (USDC) or censorship resistance (BONK). These aren't hidden in code—they're explicit account fields.
Token account lifecycle:
Creating token accounts costs 0.00203928 SOL in rent. Closing zero-balance accounts reclaims that SOL. Delegation grants temporary spending authority without ownership transfer. Freezing prevents transfers if freeze authority exists. Understanding lifecycle means managing costs and security.
Token Extensions:
Token-2022 adds metadata, transfer hooks, interest-bearing balances, confidential transfers, and 12 other extensions—all optional, all backward compatible. Use SPL Token for simplicity. Use Token-2022 when you need advanced features. No ecosystem split.
Why Solana's approach works:
Single program means universal compatibility: every DEX supports every token, every wallet displays every token, every protocol composes with every token. Standardization creates composability without per-token integration or compatibility matrices.
The Cost Advantage
Token creation:
Ethereum: $50-200 (contract deployment)
Solana: $0.02 (mint account creation)
Token transfers:
Ethereum: $5-50 (depending on gas prices)
Solana: $0.00025 (fixed, 5,000 lamports)
Supporting 10,000 users:
Ethereum: Each user pays gas to interact
Solana: 10,000 token accounts = $20 total rent
These costs enable different applications. Airdropping tokens to thousands of users? Economically viable on Solana. Gaming with thousands of in-game item transfers daily? Practical on Solana. Micropayments and loyalty programs? Cost-effective on Solana.
Speed amplifies the advantage. Ethereum's 12-second blocks mean multi-minute confirmation times. Solana's 400ms slots mean sub-second finality. Real-time applications become possible.
Common Patterns
Checking token supply and authorities:
Search mint address on Solana Explorer. See total supply, decimals, mint authority, freeze authority. All public. No code reading required.
Finding someone's token balance:
Calculate their ATA address from wallet + mint. Query that account. Balance shown in base units—divide by 10^decimals for human-readable amount.
Closing unused token accounts:
Zero balance in tokens you don't use? Close accounts to reclaim 0.00203928 SOL each. Dozens of unused accounts = meaningful SOL recovered.
Managing delegations:
Approve DEX to spend tokens for swaps. Approve programs for specific amounts. Revoke after operations complete or if they don't execute. Never leave unnecessary approvals active—security best practice.
Checking for freeze authority:
Before holding large amounts, verify freeze authority. Centralized freeze authority means issuer can prevent your transfers. None means maximum transfer freedom. Choose tokens aligned with your priorities.
Next Steps: Building with Tokens
Understanding token architecture is foundation. Implementation is next.
Learn SPL Token operations:
SPL Token with Web3.js teaches minting, transferring, burning, delegating using TypeScript. Build token applications with client-side code.
SPL Token with Anchor teaches the same operations from Solana programs. Build on-chain token logic with program-to-program interactions.
Explore Token-2022:
Token-2022 Program covers all 16 extensions in depth. When to use each, how they combine, implementation patterns.
Token-2022 with Anchor teaches building programs that use extensions. Transfer hooks, metadata, interest-bearing tokens in practice.
Understand NFTs:
NFTs on Solana applies token knowledge to non-fungible tokens. How NFTs work on Solana, Metaplex standards, compressed NFTs, collections.
Build token applications:
Combine token knowledge with Anchor to build: token vaults, staking programs, custom swap logic, gaming currencies, protocol tokens.
Key Takeaways
Single program creates consistency:
SPL Token handles all tokens. No per-token code. No compatibility issues. This is Solana's competitive advantage—composability through standardization.
Accounts make permissions explicit:
Ethereum hides authority in contract code. Solana stores it in account fields. Anyone can inspect who controls supply, who can freeze accounts. Transparency is architectural.
Extensions enable evolution:
Token-2022 proves standards can evolve without forking. New features add optionally. Backward compatibility maintains. Ecosystem grows together rather than fragmenting.
Cost enables new models:
$0.00025 transfers enable micropayments. $0.02 token creation enables experimentation. Low costs unlock applications impossible on expensive chains.
You now understand Solana's token architecture—how it works, why it's designed this way, and how it compares to other chains. Time to build with it.