Just for poop and giggles I created my own crypto token.
So I was reading about Dogecoin creator:
How he created the DOGE in few hours.
That got me interested. You can create a coin in few hours?
Well, first I was thinking. Could you do it by clicking a few times on a website. I came up with this:
https://bitexchange.systems/create-cryptocurrency-service/
I set out to create my own crypto currency. But on the last page there was a message I expected.
“It is 24 dollars thank you.”
Ok. I did not want to pay them.
So I created a thread on r/cryptocurrency in reddit about could one trust the crypto created on the website.
Somebody there said that Doge coin creator just copied and pasted the code to create Doge. He was using bitcoin code to do it.
Ok. I realized. Copy and paste. That does not sound very complicated.
So I googled how to make my own crypto once again. I came up with this:
This is a way to create a crypto token as compared to crypto coin. The plus side is that this method is based on the ERC-20 standard which means that all tokens built on this tech must adhere to “Ethereum main network” standard. Basically these tokens are built on top of Ethereum coin blockchain:
https://www.investopedia.com/news/what-erc20-and-what-does-it-mean-ethereum/
When the above article was written in 2019 there were 200 000 tokens built as I am about to do.
I followed the medium article to a T. The original code did not work how ever. But then I googled some more.
I found out that this code works:
https://github.com/ConsenSys/Tokens/issues/127
(The one posted by: ryodoo commented on 10 Aug 2018 )
Also, you have to compile (compile button is on the left in the remix site) it using 0.4.4 version of solidity compiler for it to work. Else it runs into errors.
After I compiled it I pressed the little play button on the remix page to run transactions . Then I pressed deploy and voila: (or maybe it was the other way around)
I now have one hundred million ANT tokens which are based on Ethereum coin.
I actually ran the software twice because first I sent myself only one billionth of a ANT so, I guess there are now two different “Antti’s Instrumentals” cryptos. :D I also do see there is another officially listed ANT crypto. Which makes me wonder, are there officially listed cryptos with the same name? Answer to that is most likely no. The site I am going to talk about later did tell me ANT would not work if I wanted to create a real ethereum based token.
Yes, I did this on the Ethereum test network, so it is not published on the main ethereum network. Mainly because it would cost hundreds of dollars.
The reason for that is that when you run the program it costs something called “GAS”, the fees of the gas are very real as they are based on ethereum. But when I ran the program on the test network the gas was free. The test network is actually just like real ethereum network but everything is free. Which allows developers to test their crypto.
So how to build a real crypto that you can sell, pump and dump?
Well..
To do that all you have to do is change the network you use on the metamask crypto wallet to ethereum main network and that should do it. . But it was 159 dollars worth of crypto just to deploy the code on the remix site. Then I imagine there would be more costs to run the transactions.
So I should have done this when ether was cheap!
I did find there are sites like tokenmint.io:
That do the same thing as above, but they do take a fee and I do not know if they are to be trusted. They did check the crypto name, which is good I guess if my ANT name would not have been accepted (Because there is a pre existing ANT token built on ERC20 in the mainnet). I wonder what would happen if I had tried to create a crypto with a pre existing name. Would I have lost the money and not gotten my tokens? The nice thing about tokenmint is that you do not have to mess with the code. The fee is much more than what they advertise on the site though because ether has gone up so much. So NO you can not create a token for 39 dollars. I did try.. Oh well. :D
Later I did realize there are ton of sites that create tokens. They all want to access your crypto wallet (I used metamask) and they all fail due to the fact that ether has gone up so much. Or if you do have a few thousand, they will create your crypto and it will cost a lot more money than you thought it would. I imagine there are sites that steal your money too. They just basically do what the code on the remix site did and they make the process easier.
Here is a example of what kind of costs I am talking about. This was how much one site was going to use from my metamask wallet when I was trying to create a crypto:
Yes. That is 344 dollars in gas plus the website fees. Which I did not have.
So yes. It is entirely feasible to create your own poop token. But then again. There are hundreds of thousands? Maybe millions of tokens out there. Why would I have created mine? The idea was to just spread it for poop and giggles. See what happens. Following in the giant footprints of a crazy software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto.
Here is further discussion about the costs in making a new token on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ethdev/comments/i7bvim/gas_cost_for_deploying_a_token_contract/
Basically it costs 0.3 eth to make a contract to deploy token which is 561 dollars. In 2019 you could supposedly make a token for 3 dollars..
I did research some more into all of this and I found out that there are actually sites such as walletbuilders.com that create a real crypto coin (as compared to a token) for you with a fee of 69 euros in bitcoin. But the thing is, they also want you to pay for hosting the node server for you. I do not know how much that payment is. But I imagine it is monthly payment and probably not too cheap.
That site actually has got a lot of hate from bitcointalk.org due to massive amount of so called “shitcoins” coming from there. Which means it is a legit site for creating a coin:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1754667.0
That did inspire me to go through the whole process where I created a whole “Joke coin”
But then I came to my senses. The cost would have been 69 euros plus what ever the node cost is.
Now, the way to do this of course would be to go through all the steps the Doge creator went, which is mainly cloning bitcoin and researching everything that needs to be done, including hosting your own coin node. Else it is going to cost you.
The nice thing about ethernet TOKEN is that you do not have to do that. But if you have your own coin you do. Frankly I have not researched the whole coin node aspect of all of this. It could be easier than it sounds. Maybe it is just akin to hosting a bittorrent program. Anyone? Bueller?
But hey, I do have 100 million ANT tokens in my wallet now — but because they have been built in the testnet they are worthless! Why? Because in the testnet you can ask for ether for FREE as much as you want. So all the transactions are free. I could ask for hundred trillion ethereum coins in the test network right now from something called a faucet. Which in my mind is akin to crack in the mirror of crypto. Yes, all crypto could be free. The value of it is entirely made up, just like the value of real money.
In a way when central banks go BRRRRRRRRR. They are doing the same thing, they have access to a “faucet”, where they can request as much money as they want. The more they “request” (the more dollars / euros they make out of thin air), the less the currency is worth. If anyone could ask for infinite amount, the currency would be worthless.
I do remember that back in the day you could ask for bitcoin from faucets too. This was like back in 2012 when I dabbled with it a little bit:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin_faucet
So yes, there was a time when you got tiny amounts of bitcoin for free. I did mine a little bit back then and went to advertisement sites which gave you small amount of bitcoin for doing some tasks. I checked my coinbase account and I think the amount they gave me back then would have been worth 10 dollars now. Back then it was some cents.
But as I said. On the testnet, you can still ask for crypto currencies. For free. Why not on the main net?
In the end.
Crypto currency is a illusion, the value of it is entirely in the eye of the beholder. It is a made up construction, a medium of exchange like dollars or yens. But who knows. Maybe one day I will rule the world.
Pump up the crypto!
Pump it up!
Antti
