Home
GlossaryEthereum Request For Comment (ERC)
Ethereum Request For Comment (ERC)
Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) is the protocol to introduce new improvements to the network by developers.
What Is Ethereum Request For Comment (ERC)?
Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) standards are technical standards used for developing new Ethereum-based tokens.
Ethereum Request for Comments (ERC) is similar to
Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (
BIP), in the sense that they are used to propose new protocol changes or standards to the network. ERCs are discussed within the Ethereum community on
Github, then implemented and released if accepted by the core Ethereum developers and the broader community.
It is a protocol of rules that determine how data is formatted and transmitted. These rules also determine what actions will take place when a particular event happens.
An Overview of the Creation Process of an ERC
New ERCs are created by submitting the proposal through
EIP (
Ethereum Improvement Proposal). EIP is a design document consisting of the information related to a new feature or its process – to provide information to the Ethereum community. It needs to provide complete technical specifications of the proposed feature along with the rationale for the feature.
Developers use Ethereum Improvement Proposal to submit new ERC policies.
After the submission, the community reviews these documents and gives its opinion, be it in favor or opposition. Once it has achieved approval from the community, developers implement the new ERC.
ERC-20 Is the Most Popular Ethereum Request For Comment Standard
ERC-20 is specific to the implementation of Ethereum tokens, giving developers the rules needed to create new tokens within the Ethereum ecosystem. ERC-20 was made popular by crowdfunding companies through
ICO (
initial coin offering).
The creators of ERC-20 are Vitalik Buterin and Fabian Vogelsteller. It was developed when developers needed a way of identifying tokens within
smart contracts. The ERC-20 standard was created to ensure there was a common set of rules on the Ethereum blockchain to which all Ethereum tokens must adhere.
With the ERC-20 standard, developers can use one token as a building block in another smart contract without having to worry about compatibility issues or bugs. Prior to the creation of ERC-20, each token had its own purpose and function, which made it challenging for new projects to interact with other tokens on the Ethereum network.
Another Popular ERC Standard Is ERC-721
The
ERC-721 standard allows for the creation of
non-fungible tokens (
NFTs). This means that each token is unique, unlike Ethereum's native currency Ether, or other fungible tokens. The standard allows developers to create a new type of digital assets, which can be used in applications such as crypto games.