"Standard ERC20" -- new approach to tokens: Objects from universal factory, not a specification.

[nmushegian]

For a long time, ERC20 was an ABI definition masquerading as a semantic spec. This means some "ERC20" tokens are now technically non-compliant even though the developers were following what the standard said at the time.

When the semantics were finally standardized, it revealed all the warts in the design. ERC20 tokens are surprisingly hard to build and use correctly.

Experience building token system shows that nearly all custom dapp logic lies when to mint/burn, and almost no dapp has a concept of "logic on transfer". In practice, every single dapp has its token re-audited to ensure it doesn't violate the same basic rules in every project.

Meta-proposal: Design by github thread is a bad idea

Proposal: A universal token factory that constructs a common "Token" type.

The token:

• has a "controller" which is just a regular simple "owner" address. I propose "controller" because people tend to anthropomorphize "owner" and forget that single-signature control is a special case. The controller can update via setController. It really is just an "owner".
• controller can call mint/burn/move ("move" is a backdoored "transfer")

The factory:

• DOES fire an event recording new tokens,
• does NOT assign a numeric ID
• does NOT have a registry.

Do not dare try to launch the "first" "official" one of these without bytecode-level formal verification. You know who you are.

Consider this OP an evolving document, I will revise it with a concrete spec and rationale for each decision above.

Maybe if all the right people tweet about it we could even call these "ETokens" or "eTokens".

[github-actions]

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[nmushegian]

FWIW https://github.com/ricobank/gemfab