Token Ecosystem

Mint

An on-chain account defining a token type. A mint specifies: supply (total minted), decimals (0 for NFTs, 6 for USDC, 9 for most tokens), mint authority (who can mint), and optional freeze authority. Each unique token (USDC, JitoSOL, etc.) has exactly one mint account. Mint address serves as the token's unique identifier.

IDmintAliasMint Account

Plain meaning

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An on-chain account defining a token type. A mint specifies: supply (total minted), decimals (0 for NFTs, 6 for USDC, 9 for most tokens), mint authority (who can mint), and optional freeze authority. Each unique token (USDC, JitoSOL, etc.) has exactly one mint account. Mint address serves as the token's unique identifier.

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SPL assets, token standards, metadata, and NFT primitives.

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Mint (mint)
Category: Token Ecosystem
Definition: An on-chain account defining a token type. A mint specifies: supply (total minted), decimals (0 for NFTs, 6 for USDC, 9 for most tokens), mint authority (who can mint), and optional freeze authority. Each unique token (USDC, JitoSOL, etc.) has exactly one mint account. Mint address serves as the token's unique identifier.
Aliases: Mint Account
Related: SPL Token Program, Token Account, Decimals
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Concept graph

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Branch

SPL Token Program

The original Solana Program Library token program (TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA) that implements fungible and non-fungible token operations. It manages mints (token definitions) and token accounts (balances). Core instructions include InitializeMint, MintTo, Transfer, Burn, Approve (delegation), and Revoke. All SPL tokens on mainnet before Token-2022 use this program.

Branch

Token Account

An account that holds a balance of a specific token for a specific owner. Token accounts store: mint (which token), owner (who controls it), amount (balance), delegate (optional), and state (initialized/frozen). Each wallet needs a separate token account per token type. Token accounts require ~165 bytes and rent-exempt minimum of ~0.002 SOL.

Branch

Decimals

The number of decimal places for a token, stored on the mint account. Determines how raw integer amounts map to human-readable values: a mint with 6 decimals means 1,000,000 raw = 1.0 token. Common values: 0 (NFTs), 6 (USDC/USDT), 9 (SOL, most DeFi tokens). Cannot be changed after mint creation.

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Token Ecosystem

SPL Token Program

The original Solana Program Library token program (TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA) that implements fungible and non-fungible token operations. It manages mints (token definitions) and token accounts (balances). Core instructions include InitializeMint, MintTo, Transfer, Burn, Approve (delegation), and Revoke. All SPL tokens on mainnet before Token-2022 use this program.

Token Ecosystem

Token Account

An account that holds a balance of a specific token for a specific owner. Token accounts store: mint (which token), owner (who controls it), amount (balance), delegate (optional), and state (initialized/frozen). Each wallet needs a separate token account per token type. Token accounts require ~165 bytes and rent-exempt minimum of ~0.002 SOL.

Token Ecosystem

Decimals

The number of decimal places for a token, stored on the mint account. Determines how raw integer amounts map to human-readable values: a mint with 6 decimals means 1,000,000 raw = 1.0 token. Common values: 0 (NFTs), 6 (USDC/USDT), 9 (SOL, most DeFi tokens). Cannot be changed after mint creation.

Token Ecosystem

Mint Authority

The pubkey authorized to mint new tokens via the MintTo instruction. Set at mint creation and can be changed or revoked (set to None) by the current authority. Revoking mint authority makes the supply fixed—critical for trust in fungible tokens. For NFTs, mint authority is typically revoked after minting the single token.

Commonly confused with

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Token Ecosystemmint-authority

Mint Authority

The pubkey authorized to mint new tokens via the MintTo instruction. Set at mint creation and can be changed or revoked (set to None) by the current authority. Revoking mint authority makes the supply fixed—critical for trust in fungible tokens. For NFTs, mint authority is typically revoked after minting the single token.

Token Ecosystemminting

Minting

The process of creating new tokens or NFTs on-chain by invoking the MintTo instruction on an SPL Token mint account. For fungible tokens, minting increases the supply by the specified amount. For NFTs, minting creates the single token and typically revokes mint authority afterward. Minting requires the mint authority's signature and a destination token account to receive the newly created tokens.

Token Ecosystemassociated-token-account

Associated Token Account (ATA)

A deterministically derived token account for a given wallet and mint, using the PDA seeds [wallet, token_program, mint]. ATAs provide a canonical address so anyone can send tokens to a wallet without the recipient creating an account first. The ATA program creates the account on first use, funded by the sender.

AliasATA
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Token Ecosystemspl-token

SPL Token Program

The original Solana Program Library token program (TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA) that implements fungible and non-fungible token operations. It manages mints (token definitions) and token accounts (balances). Core instructions include InitializeMint, MintTo, Transfer, Burn, Approve (delegation), and Revoke. All SPL tokens on mainnet before Token-2022 use this program.

Token Ecosystemtoken-account

Token Account

An account that holds a balance of a specific token for a specific owner. Token accounts store: mint (which token), owner (who controls it), amount (balance), delegate (optional), and state (initialized/frozen). Each wallet needs a separate token account per token type. Token accounts require ~165 bytes and rent-exempt minimum of ~0.002 SOL.

Token Ecosystemdecimals

Decimals

The number of decimal places for a token, stored on the mint account. Determines how raw integer amounts map to human-readable values: a mint with 6 decimals means 1,000,000 raw = 1.0 token. Common values: 0 (NFTs), 6 (USDC/USDT), 9 (SOL, most DeFi tokens). Cannot be changed after mint creation.

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Token Ecosystem

SPL Token Program

The original Solana Program Library token program (TokenkegQfeZyiNwAJbNbGKPFXCWuBvf9Ss623VQ5DA) that implements fungible and non-fungible token operations. It manages mints (token definitions) and token accounts (balances). Core instructions include InitializeMint, MintTo, Transfer, Burn, Approve (delegation), and Revoke. All SPL tokens on mainnet before Token-2022 use this program.

Token Ecosystem

Solana Program Library (SPL)

Solana Program Library—a collection of on-chain programs and client libraries maintained by Solana Labs. Key SPL programs include Token, Token-2022, Associated Token Account, Memo, Name Service, Stake Pool, and Account Compression. SPL programs are deployed to well-known addresses and serve as the standard building blocks for Solana applications.

Token Ecosystem

Token-2022 (Token Extensions)

The next-generation token program (TokenzQdBNbLqP5VEhdkAS6EPFLC1PHnBqCXEpPxuEb) that extends SPL Token with configurable extensions. Extensions include transfer fees, confidential transfers, transfer hooks, permanent delegate, non-transferable tokens, interest-bearing tokens, metadata, and more. Token-2022 is backwards-compatible with SPL Token for basic operations.

Token Ecosystem

Token Account

An account that holds a balance of a specific token for a specific owner. Token accounts store: mint (which token), owner (who controls it), amount (balance), delegate (optional), and state (initialized/frozen). Each wallet needs a separate token account per token type. Token accounts require ~165 bytes and rent-exempt minimum of ~0.002 SOL.