Is Ether a coin or a token?

A coin. It's the native asset of the Ethereum blockchain itself.

Can a token become a coin?

Sometimes a project launches as a token and later migrates to its own blockchain, becoming a coin at that point.

Does the coin/token distinction affect value?

Not directly. Both can carry real value or none at all, depending on adoption and usage.

Coins vs. Tokens: What's the Difference?

A coin is the native asset of its own blockchain, while a token is built on top of someone else's blockchain rather than having one of its own. Bitcoin is a coin; most everything else you've heard of that isn't a base-layer network is a token. Both fall under \[pillar hyperlink: What Is Cryptocurrency\], but the distinction matters for how each actually works.

Definitions

A coin runs on its own independent blockchain and is typically used to pay transaction fees on that network. A token is created using another blockchain's existing infrastructure, most commonly Ethereum, following a standard set of rules rather than building new network infrastructure from scratch.

Native coins

Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana's SOL are all coins: each secures and pays for transactions on its own chain. Creating a new coin generally means building an entirely new blockchain, a significant undertaking.

Tokens on existing chains

Tokens are far easier to create because they piggyback on infrastructure that already exists. On Ethereum, the vast majority follow the ERC-20 standard (see What Is an ERC-20), which is why thousands of tokens can exist without thousands of separate blockchains.

Examples

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are coins. A project's governance or utility token issued on Ethereum, common among DeFi and NFT projects, is a token. For the fuller landscape of token types, see \[pillar hyperlink: What Are Crypto Tokens\].

Definitions

Native coins

Tokens on existing chains

Examples

Frequently asked questions