What’s the Difference Between Blockchains? IE: Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, Etcetera?

Each blockchain has a different token standard. A token standard is a set of rules and technical guidelines that defines how tokens are created, deployed, and transferred on a particular blockchain network.

This makes it easy for token developers to utilize this existing blueprint to create custom tokens that operate and are governed by one parent blockchain (IE: Ethereum chain, Polygon chain, etcetera). Ethereum created the first token standard called Ethereum Request Comment (ERC-20).

This token standard paved the way for the first boom of altcoins, some of the popular ones being ChainLink (LINK), Tether (USDT), and 0x (ZRX). Several token developers leveraged the Ethereum Mainnet infrastructure to create custom tokens.

Additionally, sto the already built ERC-20, Ethereum proceeded to formulate new standards for handling non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, (ERC-721) and other standards for performing advanced blockchain transactions (ERC-777 and ERC-115). Afterward, Binance extended the functionality of ERC-20 to develop a new standard for the Binance Smart Chain, or BSC, called the BEP-20. A host of other emerging blockchains eventually came to the light with their own respective token standards.

IE: the EOS blockchain with eosio.token standard, NEO’s NEP-5, and Tezos with the TZIP-7. Due to the existing differences in token standards, crypto users must be mindful of where they deposit cryptocurrency tokens, coins, NFTs, and assets in general. Tokens are rightfully supposed to exist within networks that have the underlying structure for facilitating their transference and approval.