There are a number of different token standards on the Ethereum network to support its many token contracts. The most familiar of these is probably ERC20, a stable standard which makes it easy to build new, usable tokens while allowing for reasonable customization. This is why many projects use it as their token standard. However, it is not without some shortcomings, and various efforts have been made to address these issues, one of which is called ERC827. Let’s briefly review what this is and what it aims to address.
What is ERC827?
ERC827 is one of the latest token standards and improvements to ERC20 on the Ethereum network. Its goal is to be a simple, elegant solution to some of the known shortcomings of the ERC20 standard – specifically in the execution of calls in transfers and approvals. The GitHub abstract prides itself on being less than 100 lines of code to implement these extensions to the original standard.
It retains the easy-to-use and heuristic nature of the ERC20 standard that we are all used to, but builds upon and improves it, like ERC223 attempted to improve ERC20. The “motivations” section explains that in the current ERC20 model, only value can be transferred. However, Ethereum users can transfer value and data thanks to ERC827. Also, with ERC827, tokens can be approved to be spent by other on-chain third parties.
This new superset of ERC20 is exciting, at least for me, and may change the way we see the ERC20 token. From its GitHub page, we can see that many of the tried and true functions that ERC20 already delivers remain untouched (if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it), but ERC827 addresses transfer, transferFrom, and approve.
Because it takes some of the more pressing shortcomings of the current ERC20 token standard and improves upon them while retaining the compatibility with ERC20, I think that ERC827 is going to be rather popular among new projects and upgrades to current/past projects. The fact that it is fully ERC20 compatible is what this new token standard really has going for it, in my opinion. Not only will users be able to utilize all the benefits of the new standard, but they will also be able to keep using the ERC20 token standard that they have become accustomed to. It’s a win-win.
Its utility and simplicity are both huge strengths for this new standard, and I am intrigued to see what it can do. If you’re into code at all, be sure to check out the GitHub itself; it is always really cool to see how individuals cut down on code and elegantly address issues.
