Parameter Decisions
ERC-20 Token Parameters Guide
How to choose every value in the deploy form: name, symbol, total supply, decimals. Decision tables and concrete rules of thumb, not theory.
The defaults that work for 95% of launches: name = your project name as you would write it on Twitter, symbol = 3-5 uppercase letters unique on Etherscan, supply = 1B (utility) or 1T (memecoin), decimals = 18.
In this guide
1. Token Name
The full, human-readable name of your token. Examples: "Ethereum", "USD Coin", "Uniswap", "Shiba Inu", "Pepe".
Rules of thumb
- Length: 4 to 20 characters. Short enough to fit in headers, long enough to be searchable.
- Easy to pronounce. If two people cannot say it the same way after seeing it written, they will never spread the word.
- Check Etherscan and CoinGecko for existing tokens with the same name. Identical names will cause buyers to purchase the wrong contract.
- Check social handles are available. If you cannot get @yourname or close on Twitter, pick a different name.
- Avoid trademark conflicts. Do not name your token after major brands, public figures, or existing crypto projects.
2. Token Symbol (Ticker)
The short ticker shown in wallets, DEXes, and on Etherscan. Examples: ETH, USDT, LINK, UNI, SHIB.
| Length | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 chars | UV, BO | Rare. Most 2-letter tickers are taken or too generic. |
| 3 chars | ETH, BTC, UNI | The gold standard. Reads like a fiat currency or a stock ticker. |
| 4 chars | USDT, USDC, LINK, SHIB | Very common. Works in every wallet UI. |
| 5 chars | MATIC, AAVE | Acceptable. Reads slightly long. |
| 6+ chars | various | Discouraged. Gets truncated in mobile wallets, DEX UIs. |
Rules of thumb
- Uppercase by convention. Lowercase symbols look unprofessional. The ERC-20 standard allows lowercase but no major token uses it.
- Letters only, ideally. Numbers are technically allowed but symbols like "FOO2" or "ETH2" look amateurish.
- Avoid major-token confusion. Do not use ETH, USDT, USDC, BTC, BNB, SOL, LINK, UNI as your symbol, even if Ethereum doesn\'t block you. Buyers searching for the real token will land on you and complain.
- Check CoinGecko top-1000 list. If your symbol matches a top-1000 token, search engine results will surface the other token, not yours.
3. Total Supply
The total number of tokens that will ever exist (after deployment - the full supply is minted to the creator wallet on the ETHTokenLaunch standard contract; there is no further minting).
Common supply choices
| Supply | Token type that suits this | Vibe |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | Premium membership, governance with quorum | "Each token is a meaningful share" |
| 1,000,000 (1M) | Small utility tokens, project-internal credit systems | Professional, easy to reason about |
| 100,000,000 (100M) | Mid-size utility tokens, DeFi protocols | Standard, balanced |
| 1,000,000,000 (1B) | Ecosystem tokens, mid-cap launches | The most common default |
| 1,000,000,000,000 (1T) | Memecoins | "Cheap per token" - good for retail psychology |
| 420,690,000,000,000 | Memecoin "joke supply" | References 420/69/PEPE. Recognisable signal. |
Rules of thumb
- Pick a round number. 1B is more credible than 987,654,321. Use multiples of 10 or recognisable references (420, 69, 1337).
- Total supply does not affect value. Market cap (supply x price) is what matters. A 1T-supply token at $0.001 and a 1M-supply token at $1 are both $1M projects.
- Higher supply = lower per-token price. Memecoins use enormous supply because a price like $0.000001 looks dramatically upside-able. Utility tokens use smaller supplies because each unit feels like an asset.
- Plan for liquidity. If you allocate 50% of supply to a Uniswap pool, can you afford the matching ETH? Pool ratio sets your initial price.
4. Decimals
How divisible your token is. A token with 18 decimals can be divided into 0.000000000000000001 fractional units. A token with 0 decimals cannot be subdivided at all.
The decimals decision
| Decimals | Used by | When to choose |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | ETH, UNI, LINK, SHIB, most ERC-20s | Default. Pick this unless you have a specific reason not to. Maximum compatibility. |
| 6 | USDC, USDT | Stablecoin-style tokens. Smaller numbers in transactions are easier to read. |
| 9 | Some DeFi tokens | Non-standard. Avoid unless you have studied a specific reason this works for your project. |
| 2 | Tokens denominating cents | Niche. Causes UX problems in DEX UIs. |
| 0 | Tickets, votes, NFT-like tokens | When fractional ownership of a single token makes no sense (e.g. governance votes). |
Decimals is the single most likely parameter to be set wrongly. The deploy form shows a token amount; behind the scenes, that amount is multiplied by 10^decimals. If you enter "1000000" as supply with 18 decimals, the on-chain raw value is 1,000,000 * 10^18 = a million tokens. Get the decimals wrong and your balances will display 18 zeros off in every wallet.
5. What Cannot Be Changed Later
None of these can be modified after deployment of a standard ERC-20 contract:
- Token name
- Token symbol
- Decimals
- Total supply (on a fixed-supply contract; ETHTokenLaunch default)
- Contract address (a new deployment is always a new address)
If you need to fix any of these, you must deploy a brand-new contract. The new contract will have a new address. Any holders of the old contract will need to migrate manually (or be left behind). This is why double-checking before clicking Deploy is essential.
Worked Example: A New Memecoin
Imagine you are launching a Pepe-inspired memecoin called "Frogcoin". Standard memecoin parameter set:
- Name:
Frogcoin - Symbol:
FROG(4 chars, all-uppercase, not on top-1000 list, social handles available) - Total supply:
1,000,000,000,000(1T, fits memecoin convention) - Decimals:
18(default, maximum compatibility) - Renounce ownership: yes (memecoins almost always renounce)
- Token metadata: yes, with logo, website, Twitter, Telegram
Ready to enter your parameters?
ETHTokenLaunch shows a live preview of all four parameters before you confirm. Triple-check decimals.