ERC-20 vs TRC-20 vs BEP-20 vs Solana — fees, speed, and when to use each
ERC-20 is the Ethereum token standard used by thousands of DeFi tokens, stablecoins, and governance ...
TRC-20 is the TRON token standard, famous for hosting the cheapest USDT transfers in crypto. Fees ar...
BEP-20 is the BNB Smart Chain token standard — Ethereum-compatible with much lower fees. Home to P...
Solana is the fastest Layer 1 blockchain with near-zero fees. Home to the largest memecoin ecosystem...
The Lightning Network is Bitcoin's Layer 2 scaling solution — instant BTC payments for fractions o...
| Network | Speed | Fee | Address format | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERC-20 | ~1 minute | $1–$20 (varies with gas) | 0x... (42 characters) | Use ERC-20 when interacting with Ethereum DeFi (Uniswap, Aav... |
| TRC-20 | ~3 seconds | <$1 (almost free) | T... (34 characters) | Use TRC-20 for USDT and USDC transfers where fees matter. Be... |
| BEP-20 | ~3 seconds | $0.05–$0.50 | 0x... (42 characters, same format as ERC-20) | Use BEP-20 when using Binance ecosystem, PancakeSwap, or whe... |
| Solana | ~400ms | <$0.001 | Base58 address (~44 characters) | Use Solana for memecoins (WIF, BONK), NFTs on Magic Eden, De... |
| Lightning Network | <1 second | <$0.01 | lnbc... (Lightning invoice) or lnurl... | Use Lightning for small BTC payments (tips, purchases, micro... |