Komodo Developer Path | Understanding Tokens
Each Smart Chain in the Komodo ecosystem can act as a fully tokenizable platform. This provides many opportunities to the developer for creating on-chain assets that represent varying types of value for their users.
For example, tokens can be used to represent real world assets, and users can then trade these tokens using Komodo's Token DEX and AtomicDEX features. The developer could also create tokens that provide incentives to their audience. Or, tokens can represent collectible assets. These are but a few examples of the usefulness of on-chain tokenization.
All Smart Chain coins abide by the Bitcoin-protocol standard wherein 1 coin is divisible for up to eight decimal places: 1.00000000. The smallest unit of a Smart Coin therefore is 0.00000001 coins. By convention it is called a "satoshi," in honor of the inventor of the Bitcoin protocol.
On a Smart Chain, each individual token is derived from one individual satoshi. Therefore, each coin can be transformed into 100,000,000 tokens.
At the time of the creation of these tokens, the creator can define their properties, grant meta data to them, and establish the nature of their scarcity.
All of this functionality is established and secured through the Tokens Antara Module.
With 0.1 of our TUT1 tutorial coins, we can create 10,000,000 tokens in one creation transaction using the tokencreate RPC.
In the process of creation we can choose a name for these tokens.
All of the tokens created from this single transaction are fungible one with another, and maintain scarcity across the Smart Chain.
(It is even possible with Antara technology to maintain token scarcity across multiple chains, but this is an advanced topic that we do not cover here.)
Alternatively, rather than creating a large collective of many fungible tokens, you could instead create non-fungible tokens. To achieve this, use the tokencreate RPC to create one token at a time. Each token requires 1 satoshi, plus transaction fees.
We can attach meta data to the tokens at their creation.
The maximum size of data that can fit in a single Komodo transaction is 10000 bytes. This is enough to include all sorts of data, and even simple images.
The developer is naturally free to use their imagination in the design of this data. For example, you can describe their purpose and add a json data structure that informs other software of the properties of this token.
Advanced developers can even add functionality to allow the tokens to gain new data over time as they are passed through transactions.
In our guided tutorial, we now create 50,000 tokens that we give the name GOLD.
- Enter the
SEED-MENU - Select the
TOKENSsubmenu - Select
CREATE - Enter the name
GOLD - Use
0.0005tokens - For the short description
Some GOLD tokens
This creates 50,000 GOLD tokens by sending 0.0005 TUT1 coins to the Tokens Antara Module.
Wait a minute or so for the transaction to be mined and then use the GETINFO function to check the balance of our wallet. There are now 0.0993 coins remaining from the 0.1 coins we had previously.
We used 0.0005 coins to create the tokens.
We had a fee paid to the miners of 0.0001 coins.
We also had another fee of 0.0001 coins that were sent to a special address in the Tokens Antara Module, called the "global address." The transaction for this fee had a small amount of data that permanently tells the entire TUT1 Smart Chain community that we created these tokens. Therefore, if other users or developers want to learn about our GOLD tokens, they have a starting point in this global address.
To see our tokens afterwards, we can use the tokenlist and tokeninfo RPC's.
In our guided tutorial, we have automated functions available to make this simpler.
SEED-MENU>TOKENS>LISTSEED-MENU>TOKENS>INFO>GOLD
LIST calls the tokenlist RPC. This returns an array of token ids. A "token id" is the id of the transaction that created the token. We use this token id nearly every time hereafter when we transact with these tokens.
INFO calls the tokeninfo RPC. This RPC requires the token id of the token we desire to inspect. In our case, we chose the GOLD token.
Repeat the process to create SILVER tokens.
SEED-NODE>TOKENS>CREATE- Name:
SILVER - Amount:
0.002 - Description:
Some SILVER tokens
Wait for confirmation and then verify that our 0.0993 TUT1 balance is reduced to 0.0971.
TOKENS>CREATE- Name:
ROCK - Amount:
0.04 - Description:
Some ROCK Tokens
Use the LIST function to find the token id for ROCK, and then use the TOKENS > ROCK function to retrieve the token's full information. We see the token id included as a part of the returned data.
Switch to the mining node.
Recall that to create a non-fungible token, we simply use only one satoshi of the coin.
MINING-MENU>TOKENSTOKENS>CREATE- Name:
NFT1 - Amount:
0.00000001 - Description:
First unique token
Check the balance of the NFT1 token on both the SEED node and the MINING node.
TOKENS>BALANCE>NFT1
Note that the balance is different for the two.
Thank you for following along on this introductory tutorial.
We have covered many topics using our guided-tutorial software.
To learn more about any particular aspect, visit the links below.
If you are ready to proceed with the next tutorials in our educational series, return to the Learning Launchpad section.
- Create a new Smart Chain
- Create a coin supply
- Create and use a faucet
- Mine transactions
- Create fungible and non-fungible tokens