The Vibe: The gold standard for interchangeable tokens on Ethereum—powers most DeFi coins, stablecoins, and utility tokens you swap every day.
The Details: ERC-20 is Ethereum’s fungible token standard (proposed 2015, widely adopted since 2017). It defines a set of rules in smart contracts for tokens to handle balances, transfers, approvals, and total supply—making them compatible across wallets, exchanges, and dApps. Examples: USDC, DAI, UNI, LINK. Fully programmable, so tokens can have built-in features like burning or staking. Dominant in DeFi and most EVM chains (Polygon, Arbitrum, etc.).
Pro Tip: Always verify the contract address on Etherscan before interacting—fake ERC-20 tokens are common scams. Use wallets like MetaMask that support ERC-20 natively, and add custom tokens carefully.