What is a Token?

A crypto token is a denomination of a cryptocurrency that allows its owner to participate in the economy of a given blockchain ecosystem.

Over the years there have been several interpretations of the word “token” in the crypto community but for the purposes of DeFi space, the most common meaning is any crypto asset that is not a blockchain’s native coin.

Tezos, Tez or XTZ is the native currency of the Tezos blockchain. All other cryptoassets that run atop Tezos blockchain are referred to as Tezos tokens. For example, QUIPU is a Tezos-based token.

Tokens differ from each other by the architecture (FA1.2 or FA2 format, fungible or NFT) and by the financial model (supply size, issuance rules, decimals number, etc.).