Create your own Solana token in just 10 mins

Basic introduction about Solana Network, course content, prerequisites and setting up

Hey fam, this is Aswin and today I will teach you how to launch your own token on Solana Blockchain.This course will be super interesting because the SPL token isn't much talked about even though Solana is one of the largest blockchain networks around.Before we start, let's talk about Solana and what makes it different from other blockchains 👇🏼<figure class="image"><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-none" contenteditable="false"><figure class="image" style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://metaschool.s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/images/YixRjUdVMq0ar4Qe3BMKcLeASqJeQX2QT7atCR1R.png" data-origin="," alt="" data-proportion="true" data-align="none" data-index="0" data-file-name="YixRjUdVMq0ar4Qe3BMKcLeASqJeQX2QT7atCR1R.png" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="" style="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto"></figure></div></figure><h3>What is Solana?</h3>Solana is a blockchain platform that enables the hosting of decentralized, scalable apps. It was established in 2017 and is an open-source project that is now managed by the Geneva-based Solana Foundation.&nbsp;Compared to competing blockchains like Ethereum, Solana processes transactions substantially faster and charges significantly lower transaction fees. The Solana (SOLUSD) cryptocurrency, which uses the ticker symbol SOL, and is based on the Solana blockchain, experienced an almost 12,000% increase in 2021. 🫰🏼 At one point, it had a market valuation of over $66 billion, ranking it as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency at the time.The Solana blockchain uses the proof-of-history consensus algorithm. The following block in Solana's chain is determined by this algorithm using timestamps. Solana also uses Delegated proof-of-stake in combination with PoH as its consensus.<figure class="image"><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float-none" contenteditable="false"><figure class="image" style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://metaschool.s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/images/EjSOZcD4uSWVxJO35Fjt9BIeDDSv7hCjtOkfLhfi.png" data-origin="," alt="" data-proportion="true" data-align="none" data-index="1" data-file-name="EjSOZcD4uSWVxJO35Fjt9BIeDDSv7hCjtOkfLhfi.png" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="" style="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto"></figure></div></figure><h3>What is Proof-of History?</h3>Proof of History is based on Proof of Stake but uses a separate clock to measure time. Today, historical occurrences are employed to estimate the passage of time. These occurrences are converted into a hash that can only be produced by earlier occurrences.What if you could demonstrate that the message was sent before and after the occurrence, rather than relying solely on the timestamp? When you snap a picture of the New York Times cover, you are proving that it was taken after the newspaper was published or that you have some sort of control over what the New York Times publishes. You can produce a historical record that shows an event took place at a given point in time using Proof of History.Hopefully that example was useful. Let's move on to the next lesson, but before you do that, remember to complete your assignment!&nbsp;

Understanding Solana Network

Before we get started, it's important you familiarize yourself with all that we'll be learning.&nbsp;<h3>This course on how to launch your own cryptocurrency on Solana will cover 👇🏼</h3><ul><li>How to create SPL Token</li><li>Using Solana CLI</li><li>Deployment on Solana Devnet</li></ul>&nbsp;<h3>Prerequisites to build a token on Solana Network</h3>This is the most important part because the CLI we will be using to create this token has a lot of dependencies and we have to make sure that we set the environment for Solana to run perfectly!Moving on, we will be using cargo to create the token. Cargo is the NPM or Yarn version of Rust, so we'll need to install Rust and set up its dependencies correctly. Lastly, install the Solana Tool Suite to create our token which also depends on Rust.&nbsp;A multi-paradigm, all-purpose programming language is called Rust. Performance, type safety, and concurrency are highlighted in Rust. Unlike other memory-safe languages, Rust maintains memory safety—that is, that all references point to valid memory—without necessitating the employment of a garbage collector or reference counting.You can learn more about rust on <a href="https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/</a> Why we need rust? In essence, Solidity was developed to enable the creation of Smart Contracts for the Ethereum Virtual Machine. That is, Solidity is used for Ethereum smart contracts and all other blockchains that leverage Ethereum as a Layer 1 solution. You can send tokens to a wallet using that way because Solidity has been best suited for handling smart contract transactions in Ethereum-based blockchains with modifiers like payable. Additionally, Solidity is so user- and developer-friendly that it enables you to create straightforward smart contracts in a matter of minutes.But in Solana, Rust is the preferred language for creating smart contracts. Rust's ability to produce extremely efficient apps with total control over memory and cache management, trash collection, etc. is the key justification for using it.As a result, it makes it possible for dApps created using Rust to be extremely efficient and use far less gas than dApps created with Solidity, and consequently, Ethereum.So, install these:<ul><li><a href="https://rustup.rs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rust</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://docs.solana.com/cli/install-solana-cli-tools" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Solana Tool Suite</a>&nbsp;</li></ul>All set up? Answer the question below and let's start! 🚀

Course Learnings & Prerequisites

<h3>First we need to install Rust,</h3><ul><li>Go to <a href="https://rustup.rs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://rustup.rs/</a></li><li>Download the setup or curl it according to your requirement</li><li>Open the setup and follow the on-screen instruction and install the setup</li></ul>&nbsp;<h3>Then we need to install Solana Tool Suite,</h3><ul><li>Go to <a href="https://docs.solana.com/cli/install-solana-cli-tools" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://docs.solana.com/cli/install-solana-cli-tools</a></li><li>Follow the instruction and install according to your platform</li></ul>🧵Note: When Installing Rust, make sure you follow the CLI instructions and install VS code. After installing VS code also install the C++ development build tool for VS code.Once you have installed both the dependencies, let’s check if we installed it correctly or not!Open your CLI and run&nbsp;cargo - - version and you will get a output like this if you have installed rust correctly<div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-none" contenteditable="false"><figure style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/DVkJRYUoWa5fcTTpa1KMAVaaO6b-RtDtEGRiryT64KET1WPjQRQJojWbHmK7CKdHcv49GsgYT0HAHGI0MCDIy2ZVLMc79593trphVSQZ-phEFcDGZCgcC2xF6VgmWUO-tndIcC58I-7f32z0kM6TKHE2rtPBqBI1RVnuef7aX5Yg_MJvAJuFlTSZ3g" data-origin="," alt="" data-proportion="true" data-align="none" data-index="0" data-file-name="DVkJRYUoWa5fcTTpa1KMAVaaO6b-RtDtEGRiryT64KET1WPjQRQJojWbHmK7CKdHcv49GsgYT0HAHGI0MCDIy2ZVLMc79593trphVSQZ-phEFcDGZCgcC2xF6VgmWUO-tndIcC58I-7f32z0kM6TKHE2rtPBqBI1RVnuef7aX5Yg_MJvAJuFlTSZ3g" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="" style="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto"></figure></div> then run&nbsp;solana.exe&nbsp;- -version and you will get a output like this if you have installed the Solana tool suite correctly<div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-none" contenteditable="false"><figure style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/PRk3WmUJHFxNKDmEBhon6DxPPu615nOaiedfzHzXoswNOJ7HjluqvUBj9F-i01EUcRaXoZ4moosFG-uRrKRarqHQfGIBFzF3a9PG3i-U9348xJdnEXiZdkWQ65euOanS4PpdC4tcbI0LbPTeKSI7XUQscxTy5Lz_dCN-MfqzVVg08CEF8C4KMJptqw" data-origin="," alt="" data-proportion="true" data-align="none" data-index="1" data-file-name="PRk3WmUJHFxNKDmEBhon6DxPPu615nOaiedfzHzXoswNOJ7HjluqvUBj9F-i01EUcRaXoZ4moosFG-uRrKRarqHQfGIBFzF3a9PG3i-U9348xJdnEXiZdkWQ65euOanS4PpdC4tcbI0LbPTeKSI7XUQscxTy5Lz_dCN-MfqzVVg08CEF8C4KMJptqw" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="" style="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto"></figure></div> Congratulations, you are now ready to code and build your own SPL token 🎉

Setting up your environment

Introduction 🔮

Now since we are done with the most hectic part (setting up the environment 😅) we can move to the fun part of creating the token and deploying it to Solana Devnet.Trust me this process will only take like 5-10 mins. Creating a token on Solana is the easiest!Start with opening your CLI and write<pre><code>cargo install spl-token-cli</code></pre>Since we have installed the Solana Tool Suite already, this command will install the SPL-Token-CLI.I know you all are unfamiliar with ‘Cargo’. Don't get intimidated, it's nothing but a command similar to “yarn” and “npm” for the Rust environment.After installation of Solana CLI is finished we can move on to creating a Solana wallet.Use this command to generate a new wallet which we will be using to interact with Solana Devnet.<pre><code>solana-keygen new --no-outfile</code></pre>Note: Leave the BIP39 passphrase empty and press enter if you don’t have your own passphrase.Since we have created our Solana wallet, let’s set our network configuration to Devnet using the following command:<pre><code>solana config set --url &lt;https://api.devnet.solana.com&gt;</code></pre>To check if our network is configured with the devnet, use the following command,<pre><code>solana config get</code></pre>If you have configured your SPL-CLI correctly, you will get an output like this:<div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-none" contenteditable="false"><figure style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sfEkpPoq92ZjyaMtQmpViZWU3wIT8ScBtUo6weujWMDfPWHFFCctGTwQEbb-Siy8u8kb90OHgckZLMg0ZBnsOk60tyghfFPZo8GDNQMUIHeCHJJvnEsvBvc68Y3Zv2R0CWL0ndZOHvdtg_CrDCumbcrIpmiNZM614-DVvzkWVtwp98HpsXtIv27roA" data-origin="," alt="" data-proportion="true" data-align="none" data-file-name="sfEkpPoq92ZjyaMtQmpViZWU3wIT8ScBtUo6weujWMDfPWHFFCctGTwQEbb-Siy8u8kb90OHgckZLMg0ZBnsOk60tyghfFPZo8GDNQMUIHeCHJJvnEsvBvc68Y3Zv2R0CWL0ndZOHvdtg_CrDCumbcrIpmiNZM614-DVvzkWVtwp98HpsXtIv27roA" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto" style="" data-index="0"></figure></div> Now, we need some testnet SOL to pay for the transaction fees on the network and we can use the following command to get some FREE SOL 🤑🤑🤑<pre><code>solana airdrop 1</code></pre>This command will transfer 1 SOL to the wallet you will have just created using the CLI.To check your Solana wallet balance, use the following command:<pre><code>solana balance</code></pre>And just like that we're done with the initial coding part, let’s deploy the token to Solana Devnet. LFG guys!!! 🔥

Using SPL-CLI

Let’s Code 📜

This is the final part 🔮&nbsp;I know you guys are really excited so I think I must not talk much and begin the deployment of our SPL token on the Solana devnet.By the way, SPL token is not the name of the token but it is a token standard used by the Solana ecosystem like ERC-20 for Ethereum.<h3>Now, let’s begin with token creation</h3>You can use the following command to create a token and deploy it. Yes you heard me right, you can create and deploy the token with just a SINGLE command,<pre><code>spl-token create-token</code></pre>Now after you have created a token you will receive a token address with a signature (Transaction Hash). Copy the token address as this is what you will need further on.Just hold your heart for the next 1-2 mins and you will have your token minted too! 😱🎉Before minting the token, we need to create an account to store the token as Solana blockchain doesn’t have storage by default. Hence we will manually assign storage for our token..Use the following command to create a account:<pre><code>spl-token create-account &lt;token-address&gt;</code></pre>Now mint your token to the newly created account. Use the following command to mint your token:<pre><code>spl-token mint &lt;token-address&gt; &lt;token-amount&gt;</code></pre><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-none" contenteditable="false"><figure style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/D_4dbHVlKSvYz9_wFBWPRahNbRj7NoxAyWf-T69IHpprrAuhoD8hNDePuGO7pRxozfFnuMyanq-YXMUIxP3uBq-e0zselJqieN6ZVk6m6RofbTqNVJZTUDh52GT4Ti9Ku4aEs4Y2n_Y3lo2KfHg4-u7r6r7BOoproXYbh_Q2u7CsKP_hX-d_Ub5aIg" data-origin="," alt="" data-proportion="true" data-align="none" data-index="0" data-file-name="D_4dbHVlKSvYz9_wFBWPRahNbRj7NoxAyWf-T69IHpprrAuhoD8hNDePuGO7pRxozfFnuMyanq-YXMUIxP3uBq-e0zselJqieN6ZVk6m6RofbTqNVJZTUDh52GT4Ti9Ku4aEs4Y2n_Y3lo2KfHg4-u7r6r7BOoproXYbh_Q2u7CsKP_hX-d_Ub5aIg" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="" style="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto"></figure></div> Congratulations! your have successfully created and deployed your SPL token to Solana devnet 🥳Let’s check our newly created token on the Solana devnet explorer,<ul><li>Go to<a href="https://explorer.solana.com/supply?cluster=devnet">&nbsp;https://explorer.solana.com/supply?cluster=devnet</a></li><li>Search your token with the address you copied</li></ul><div class="se-component se-image-container __se__float- __se__float-none" contenteditable="false"><figure style="margin: 0px;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/z1hROGm14kVPEq0lLYXz9K-kIxyNc33TAEG5Pn-Yfe8rrxKa6Ngf-e5E4w51PrigBFnj5JkHl15JeGIOw1k39l3HeRfniY4lAhLkElvV5aF7fGik6n7Cd_FtZZ37tGsbbOcYgBcQhtQT_nIFzNj_YL9b7rdpsg8cqqXJWUMxhvgaStlU3kK4fOa4_w" data-origin="," alt="" data-proportion="true" data-align="none" data-index="1" data-file-name="z1hROGm14kVPEq0lLYXz9K-kIxyNc33TAEG5Pn-Yfe8rrxKa6Ngf-e5E4w51PrigBFnj5JkHl15JeGIOw1k39l3HeRfniY4lAhLkElvV5aF7fGik6n7Cd_FtZZ37tGsbbOcYgBcQhtQT_nIFzNj_YL9b7rdpsg8cqqXJWUMxhvgaStlU3kK4fOa4_w" data-file-size="0" data-rotate="" data-rotatex="" data-rotatey="" style="" data-size="," data-percentage="auto,auto"></figure></div> As you can see, we have our token deployed on the devnet of Solana Blockchain and the name of the token is showing as “Unknown Token” because in case of SPL tokens, you need to pull the SPL token repository of Solana and add your token to the list for the Solana blockchain to recognize its name and symbol.For the devnet, we don’t have an option to add our token to the list but you can replicate this process for the mainnet and update the official SPL token list.To deploy on the mainnet you just need to change solana config line to,<pre><code>solana config set --url &lt;https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com&gt;</code></pre>and also, you need to buy and transfer the Solana wallet you create to pay for the transaction as mainnet does not have a faucet for you get FREE SOL 😫&nbsp;That's all, wasn't this fun? 😎---<h4>Got 30 more minutes? Let's teach you <a href="https://metaschool.so/course/launch-your-own-token-on-polygon-network-in-30-mins" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how to launch your own token on Polygon Network in 30 mins </a>🖱 <a href="https://metaschool.so/course/launch-your-own-token-on-polygon-network-in-30-mins" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">visit here</a></h4>

Create your own Solana token in just 10 mins

Project Curriculum

Introduction 🔮

Let’s Code 📜

Deployment 🔨

🎉 Completion

Get your NFT Image

Why metaschool?

NFT Certificates

Free of cost

Expert Trainer

Self Paced

Frequently asked questions