Token Standards

Overview

Standards define the behavior and structure of essential blockchain features, including tokens, wallets, and on-chain objects. They ensure seamless interoperability between contracts from different developers, enabling assets to maintain consistent appearance, predictable interactions, and universal support across wallets and marketplaces.

Movement implements three primary standard categories:

• Move Standards — Core object model defining data and resource structure
• Asset Standards — Formal specifications for tokens and NFTs
• Legacy Standards — Older token systems maintained for backward compatibility

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Move Object Model

Movement leverages the Move Object Model to represent real-world entities on-chain. Rather than creating custom contract layouts for each use case, developers utilize a standardized object-based format. These objects encapsulate resources with strict ownership, transfer, and mutation rules, significantly reducing bugs and enhancing composability.

Key Benefits:

• Provides the foundation for all asset standards (fungible and non-fungible)
• Enforces safety guarantees through type system constraints
• Eliminates common vulnerabilities associated with ad-hoc implementations

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Current Asset Standards

The current standards represent the modern approach to token and asset management on Movement.

Digital Asset (DA) Standard

The Digital Asset standard is the recommended framework for non-fungible and semi-fungible assets.

Core Features:

• Tokens implemented as Move Objects
• NFTs organized within collections with comprehensive metadata support
• Direct transfer capability without recipient opt-in requirements
• Composable architecture allowing NFTs to own other NFTs

Fungible Asset (FA) Standard

The Fungible Asset standard provides a comprehensive framework for representing fungible tokens.

Design Principles:

• Type-safe token operations with compile-time guarantees
• Automatic recipient storage initialization
• Granular control over minting, burning, transfers, and permission management
• Enhanced flexibility for diverse applications

Advantages Over Legacy Systems: FA offers superior expressiveness and adaptability compared to the older Coin standard, making it suitable for use cases ranging from currencies to in-game assets.

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Legacy Standards

While current standards are recommended for all new development, legacy standards remain supported to ensure backward compatibility with existing applications.

Token (Legacy)

The Token standard provides a versatile framework for managing multiple token types within a single implementation.

• Versatile multi-token support - Handles NFTs, fungibles, and semi-fungibles in a single standard
• Customizable properties - Offers flexible on-chain property configuration
• Backward compatible - Remains functional for existing applications

Coin (Legacy)

The Coin standard offers a straightforward approach to fungible token implementation with high performance and low gas overhead.

• Simple fungible implementation - Straightforward token standard for fungible assets
• Superseded standard - Replaced by the more capable Fungible Asset standard
• Continued support - Still functional for existing deployments