The standard for creating fungible tokens on Ethereum is ERC-20.
ERC-20 means “Ethereum Request for Comment 20.” It defines a common set of smart-contract functions for tokens that are interchangeable, including transfers, balance checks, total supply, and allowances. Because each unit follows the same interface, wallets, exchanges, and decentralized applications can support many ERC-20 tokens consistently.
Fabian Vogelsteller proposed the standard in November 2015. It became foundational to Ethereum’s token economy, powering assets such as stablecoins, governance tokens, and tokens issued during initial coin offerings. ERC-20 tokens are created by smart contracts; they are not separate blockchains.
A frequent mix-up is with ERC-721 and ERC-1155. ERC-721 is primarily associated with unique, non-fungible tokens, while ERC-1155 supports multiple token types and can represent both fungible and non-fungible assets. BEP-20 is a comparable token standard associated with BNB Smart Chain, not Ethereum.