Custom Minting

Custom Minting

Sovereign Assets • Layer 1s • Payment Networks

programmable token creation mechanism

Custom Minting refers to the programmable ability within smart contracts to create (“mint”) new tokens or assets, either automatically based on set conditions or manually by an authorized address. Custom minting is core to most fungible and non-fungible token standards (like ERC-20, ERC-721, or XLS-20), enabling projects to issue, distribute, or burn tokens as needed. Rules for minting—such as supply caps, access controls, or on-chain governance—are coded directly into the contract.

Use Case: A stablecoin project mints new $USDC tokens whenever users deposit dollars, or an NFT collection mints new artworks as collectors claim them, all governed by contract rules.

Key Concepts:

• Smart Contract Token — The programmable assets that enable custom minting and burning
• Token Standards Index — Protocols (like ERC-20, ERC-721, XLS-20) that define minting and burning logic
• Fungibility — Custom minting applies to both fungible and non-fungible tokens
• Metadata — Minted NFTs often include custom metadata for uniqueness and provenance
• Minting — The general process of creating new tokens on-chain
• ERC-20 — Ethereum’s fungible token standard with minting capabilities
• NFT Standards — ERC-721, ERC-1155, XLS-20 defining non-fungible minting rules
• Token Supply Models — Fixed vs dynamic supply determined by minting logic
• Tokenomics — Economic design including minting schedules and caps

Summary: Custom minting brings flexibility and programmability to digital assets, letting projects and creators control supply, distribution, and uniqueness of tokens in Web3 ecosystems.