top of page

If the video doesn’t play, please refresh the page.

Crypto Coin vs Token (Differences + Examples)

Wondering what the difference between a coin and a token is? You’re not alone — this is one of the most common questions in the world of cryptocurrency. In this video, we cover what makes a coin different from a token and what the unique benefits of both are, so you can navigate the crypto landscape with confidence.

A coin typically refers to a digital asset that operates on its own native blockchain. Examples include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL). These coins are primarily used as a form of digital money or to pay for transaction fees within their own blockchain ecosystems. They have their own independent networks, protocols, and governance mechanisms.

On the other hand, a token is built on top of an existing blockchain infrastructure, such as Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens or Solana’s SPL tokens. Tokens can represent a wide variety of assets and functionalities — from governance rights and staking rewards to NFTs and utility functions in decentralized applications (dApps).

Throughout this video, we’ll break down real-world examples of coins and tokens, discuss their advantages, use cases, and how they complement each other in the broader crypto ecosystem. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how both play vital roles in blockchain innovation.

Description:
Both coins and tokens are types of digital assets in the cryptocurrency world, but they serve distinct purposes based on where they exist and how they’re used.

⸻

🧩 Crypto Coin
• Operates on its own native blockchain
• Examples: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL)
• Primarily used as digital currency, for value transfer, or to power the network (e.g., paying for gas fees on Ethereum or Solana)

Coins are the fundamental units of value within their blockchain ecosystem. Beyond being used for transactions, they may also secure the network through consensus mechanisms like Proof of Stake (staking SOL or ETH), or as a store of value (like Bitcoin).

⸻

🧷 Crypto Token
• Created on top of an existing blockchain using smart contracts
• Examples:
  – USDT (Tether) on Ethereum (ERC-20 token)
  – UNI (Uniswap token) on Ethereum
  – RAY, SRM (SPL tokens on Solana)

Tokens unlock broader use cases beyond currency. They can represent utility (access to a service), governance (voting rights in a protocol), DeFi assets (lending/borrowing), NFTs (digital collectibles), or stablecoins (pegged to fiat currencies).

Popular standards include ERC-20 (Ethereum fungible tokens), ERC-721/1155 (Ethereum NFTs), and SPL (Solana tokens).

⸻

🛠️ Analogy
• Coin = native currency of a country (like USD in the USA — used everywhere)
• Token = gift card, arcade token, or theme park pass (usable only within a specific system or application)

bottom of page
/** * Wix Custom Code — paste into Settings → Custom Code → Body end (All pages) * on https://www.idxsolana.io/ * * Requires a hidden Wix Subscribe form on the site (same page or any page * loaded by the docs iframe bridge). Pair with docs.idxsolana.io footer. */ (function () { var ALLOWED = [ "https://docs.idxsolana.io", "http://localhost:3000", "http://localhost:3010", ]; function isAllowedOrigin(origin) { if (!origin) return false; if (ALLOWED.indexOf(origin) !== -1) return true; if (/^https:\/\/docs\.idxsolana\.io$/.test(origin)) return true; if (/^http:\/\/localhost:\d+$/.test(origin)) return true; if (origin === window.location.origin) return true; return false; } function reply(event, payload) { if (!event.source) return; try { event.source.postMessage(payload, event.origin || "*"); } catch (e) {} } function findSubscribeForm() { var candidates = document.querySelectorAll("form"); for (var i = 0; i < candidates.length; i++) { var form = candidates[i]; if (form.querySelector('input[type="email"]')) return form; } return null; } function findSubmitControl(form) { return ( form.querySelector('[data-hook="submit-button"]') || form.querySelector('button[type="submit"]') || form.querySelector('input[type="submit"]') || form.querySelector("button") ); } function watchSubmitResult(form, event) { var root = form.closest('[data-hook="form-root"]') || form.parentElement || document.body; var settled = false; function finish(ok, message) { if (settled) return; settled = true; observer.disconnect(); clearTimeout(timer); reply(event, ok ? { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-ok" } : { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: message || "Could not subscribe. Try again." }); } var observer = new MutationObserver(function () { var success = root.querySelector('[data-hook="success-message"], [data-testid="successMessage"]'); if (success) finish(true); var error = root.querySelector('[data-hook="error-message"], [data-testid="errorMessage"]'); if (error && error.textContent && error.textContent.trim()) { finish(false, error.textContent.trim()); } }); observer.observe(root, { childList: true, subtree: true, characterData: true }); var timer = setTimeout(function () { finish(true); }, 4000); } function submitEmail(email, event) { var form = findSubscribeForm(); if (!form) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Subscribe form not found. Add a hidden Wix Subscribe form to this site.", }); return; } var input = form.querySelector('input[type="email"]'); if (!input) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Email field not found." }); return; } var submit = findSubmitControl(form); if (!submit) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Submit button not found." }); return; } input.focus(); input.value = email; input.dispatchEvent(new Event("input", { bubbles: true })); input.dispatchEvent(new Event("change", { bubbles: true })); watchSubmitResult(form, event); try { if (typeof form.requestSubmit === "function") { form.requestSubmit(submit); } else { submit.click(); } } catch (e) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Could not submit form." }); } } window.addEventListener("message", function (event) { if (!isAllowedOrigin(event.origin)) return; var data = event.data; if (!data || data.type !== "idx-footer-newsletter") return; var email = String(data.email || "").trim(); if (!email) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Email is required." }); return; } submitEmail(email, event); }); })(); /** * Wix Velo — paste into Backend → http-functions.js on https://www.idxsolana.io/ * Publish the site after saving. * * Endpoint: POST https://www.idxsolana.io/_functions/newsletter_subscribe * * Only enable browser fetch after this is deployed AND working: * NEXT_PUBLIC_WIX_NEWSLETTER_USE_HTTP=true * * Until then, docs uses postMessage bridge (wix-footer-form-bridge.js) — no CORS. */ import { ok, badRequest, response } from "wix-http-functions"; import { contacts } from "wix-crm-backend"; const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = [ "https://docs.idxsolana.io", "http://localhost:3000", "http://localhost:3010", ]; function resolveOrigin(origin) { if (!origin) return null; if (ALLOWED_ORIGINS.indexOf(origin) !== -1) return origin; if (/^http:\/\/localhost:\d+$/.test(origin)) return origin; return null; } function corsHeaders(origin) { const headers = { "Access-Control-Allow-Methods": "POST, OPTIONS", "Access-Control-Allow-Headers": "Content-Type", "Content-Type": "application/json", }; if (origin) { headers["Access-Control-Allow-Origin"] = origin; } return headers; } export function options_newsletter_subscribe(request) { const origin = resolveOrigin(request.headers.origin); return response({ status: 204, headers: corsHeaders(origin), }); } export function post_newsletter_subscribe(request) { const origin = resolveOrigin(request.headers.origin); const headers = corsHeaders(origin); if (!origin) { return response({ status: 403, headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" }, body: { error: "Forbidden" }, }); } return request.body .text() .then(function (text) { var body = {}; try { body = JSON.parse(text || "{}"); } catch (e) { return badRequest({ body: { error: "Invalid JSON body." }, headers: headers }); } var email = String(body.email || "").trim(); if (!email) { return badRequest({ body: { error: "Email is required." }, headers: headers }); } return contacts .findOrCreateLabel("Subscriber") .then(function (label) { return contacts.appendOrCreateContact({ emails: [{ email: email, tag: "MAIN", primary: true }], labelKeys: [label.key], }); }) .then(function () { return ok({ body: { success: true }, headers: headers }); }); }) .catch(function (error) { return badRequest({ body: { error: error.message || "Could not subscribe." }, headers: headers, }); }); } /** * Wix Custom Code — paste into Settings → Custom Code → Body end (All pages) * on https://www.idxsolana.io/ * * Requires a hidden Wix Subscribe form on the site (same page or any page * loaded by the docs iframe bridge). Pair with docs.idxsolana.io footer. */ (function () { var ALLOWED = [ "https://docs.idxsolana.io", "http://localhost:3000", "http://localhost:3010", ]; function isAllowedOrigin(origin) { if (!origin) return false; if (ALLOWED.indexOf(origin) !== -1) return true; if (/^https:\/\/docs\.idxsolana\.io$/.test(origin)) return true; if (/^https:\/\/[a-z0-9-]+\.idxsolana\.io$/.test(origin)) return true; if (/^http:\/\/localhost:\d+$/.test(origin)) return true; if (origin === window.location.origin) return true; return false; } function reply(event, payload) { if (!event.source) return; try { event.source.postMessage(payload, event.origin || "*"); } catch (e) {} } function findSubscribeForm() { var candidates = document.querySelectorAll("form"); for (var i = 0; i < candidates.length; i++) { var form = candidates[i]; if (form.querySelector('input[type="email"]')) return form; } return null; } function findSubmitControl(form) { return ( form.querySelector('[data-hook="submit-button"]') || form.querySelector('button[type="submit"]') || form.querySelector('input[type="submit"]') || form.querySelector("button") ); } function watchSubmitResult(form, event) { var root = form.closest('[data-hook="form-root"]') || form.parentElement || document.body; var settled = false; function finish(ok, message) { if (settled) return; settled = true; observer.disconnect(); clearTimeout(timer); reply(event, ok ? { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-ok" } : { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: message || "Could not subscribe. Try again." }); } var observer = new MutationObserver(function () { var success = root.querySelector('[data-hook="success-message"], [data-testid="successMessage"]'); if (success) finish(true); var error = root.querySelector('[data-hook="error-message"], [data-testid="errorMessage"]'); if (error && error.textContent && error.textContent.trim()) { finish(false, error.textContent.trim()); } }); observer.observe(root, { childList: true, subtree: true, characterData: true }); var timer = setTimeout(function () { finish(true); }, 4000); } function submitEmail(email, event) { var form = findSubscribeForm(); if (!form) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Subscribe form not found. Add a hidden Wix Subscribe form to this site.", }); return; } var input = form.querySelector('input[type="email"]'); if (!input) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Email field not found." }); return; } var submit = findSubmitControl(form); if (!submit) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Submit button not found." }); return; } input.focus(); input.value = email; input.dispatchEvent(new Event("input", { bubbles: true })); input.dispatchEvent(new Event("change", { bubbles: true })); watchSubmitResult(form, event); try { if (typeof form.requestSubmit === "function") { form.requestSubmit(submit); } else { submit.click(); } } catch (e) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Could not submit form." }); } } window.addEventListener("message", function (event) { if (!isAllowedOrigin(event.origin)) return; var data = event.data; if (!data || data.type !== "idx-footer-newsletter") return; var email = String(data.email || "").trim(); if (!email) { reply(event, { type: "idx-footer-newsletter-error", message: "Email is required." }); return; } submitEmail(email, event); }); })();