Building Your First ERC20 Token on Monad

Welcome to Monsmith! 🚀

This tutorial will guide you through creating and deploying your first ERC20 token on the Monad blockchain.

What You'll Learn

Understanding ERC20 token standard

Deploying to Monad testnet

Interacting with your token

Best security practices

Prerequisites

MetaMask wallet connected to Monad Testnet

Basic understanding of blockchain concepts

Step 1: Understanding ERC20 Tokens

ERC20 is the most popular token standard on EVM-compatible blockchains. It defines a common interface for fungible tokens (tokens where each unit is identical and interchangeable).

Key Functions:

transfer() - Send tokens to another address

approve() - Allow another address to spend your tokens

transferFrom() - Transfer tokens on behalf of someone else

balanceOf() - Check token balance

totalSupply() - Get total token supply

Step 2: Template Overview

Our ERC20 template includes:

✅ OpenZeppelin - Battle-tested, audited code

✅ Mintable - Owner can create new tokens

✅ Burnable - Users can destroy their tokens

✅ Ownable - Access control for admin functions

soliditycontract GenContract is ERC20, ERC20Burnable, Ownable {
    constructor(
        string memory name,
        string memory symbol,
        uint256 initialSupply
    ) ERC20(name, symbol) Ownable(msg.sender) {
        _mint(msg.sender, initialSupply);
    }
}

Step 3: Customizing Your Token

Token Name & Symbol

Name: Full token name (e.g., "Monad Gold")

Symbol: Ticker symbol (e.g., "SGOLD")

Initial Supply: Number of tokens to mint initially

Example Parameters:

javascriptName: "My Awesome Token"
Symbol: "MAT"
Initial Supply: 1000000 (will be 1,000,000 tokens with 18 decimals)

Step 4: Security Check

Before deployment, our system runs automatic security analysis:

What We Check:

✅ Known vulnerability patterns

✅ OpenZeppelin best practices

✅ Access control implementation

✅ Gas optimization opportunities

Risk Levels:

🟢 LOW: Safe to deploy

🟡 MEDIUM: Review recommended

🔴 HIGH: Fixes required

⛔ CRITICAL: DO NOT DEPLOY

Step 5: Deploying to Monad

Network Details:

Network: Monad Testnet

Chain ID: 10143

RPC URL: https://testnet-rpc.monad.xyz

Explorer: https://monadexplorer.com

Deployment Process:

1. Click "Deploy to Testnet"

2. Review gas estimate (~800,000 gas)

3. Confirm transaction in MetaMask

4. Wait for deployment confirmation

5. Get your contract address!

Step 6: Interacting With Your Token

Once deployed, you can:

View Token Info:

javascriptawait contract.name() // Returns "My Awesome Token"
await contract.symbol() // Returns "MAT"
await contract.totalSupply() // Returns initial supply

Transfer Tokens:

javascriptawait contract.transfer(recipientAddress, amount)

Mint New Tokens (Owner Only):

javascriptawait contract.mint(recipientAddress, amount)

Burn Tokens:

javascriptawait contract.burn(amount)

Step 7: Best Practices

DO:

✅ Test on testnet first

✅ Verify contract source code

✅ Document token economics

✅ Use OpenZeppelin libraries

✅ Add events for important actions

DON'T:

❌ Deploy untested code to mainnet

❌ Skip security audits for production

❌ Store private keys in code

❌ Ignore gas optimization

❌ Use unaudited custom implementations

Step 8: Advanced Features

Pausable Tokens:

Add ability to pause all transfers:

solidityimport "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/extensions/ERC20Pausable.sol";

Capped Supply:

Limit maximum supply:

solidityimport "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/extensions/ERC20Capped.sol";

Snapshots:

Track balances at specific points:

solidityimport "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/extensions/ERC20Snapshot.sol";

Step 9: Gas Optimization Tips

Save Gas By:

Use external instead of public for external functions

Batch operations when possible

Use events instead of storage for historical data

Avoid unnecessary storage writes

Use immutable for values set in constructor

Monad Advantages:

⚡ Sub-second finality

💰 Lower gas fees than Ethereum

🚀 Higher throughput (400k+ TPS)

🌐 EVM-compatible

Step 10: Next Steps

Continue Learning:

📖 [ERC721 NFT Tutorial](./erc721-nft.md)

📖 [Staking Contract Tutorial](./staking-rewards.md)

📖 [DAO Tutorial](./simple-dao.md)

Resources:

[Monad Documentation](https://docs.monad.xyz)

[OpenZeppelin Docs](https://docs.openzeppelin.com)

[Solidity by Example](https://solidity-by-example.org)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues:

"Insufficient funds for gas"

Get testnet tokens from Monad faucet

"Transaction reverted"

Check function parameters

Ensure you have necessary permissions (onlyOwner functions)

"Contract not verified"

Use block explorer's verify feature

Submit source code and compiler settings

Congratulations! 🎉

You've successfully created and deployed your first ERC20 token on Monad!

What's Next?

Add liquidity to DEX

Create token sale contract

Build DApp frontend

Integrate with metaverse projects

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Need Help?

Join [Monad Discord](https://discord.gg/monad)

Check [Developer Docs](https://docs.monad.xyz)

Ask in [Developer Forum](https://docs.monad.xyz)

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