ERC-1155

ERC-1155 is a more flexible Ethereum token standard that can handle both fungible tokens (like ERC-20) and non-fungible tokens (like ERC-721) within the same smart contract. It was developed largely with gaming and digital item economies in mind, where you might need thousands of identical gold coins (fungible) alongside a handful of rare legendary swords (non-fungible) all managed in one place.

Before ERC-1155, a game developer who wanted both types of tokens would have had to deploy two completely separate contracts — one for the coins and one for the swords. That meant more complexity, more deployment costs, and more things that could go wrong. ERC-1155 collapses all of that into a single contract, making it significantly more efficient and cheaper to run.

One of ERC-1155’s most practical features is “batch transfers,” which lets you send multiple different types of tokens in a single transaction. Instead of sending three separate transactions to give someone a sword, a shield, and 100 gold coins, you can bundle all of that into one transaction, saving time and reducing transaction fees.

Example: Imagine running a board game shop. You have stacks of identical dice (fungible — any one die is the same as another) and a handful of rare limited-edition collector pieces (non-fungible — each one is unique). ERC-1155 is like having one master inventory system that tracks both the common dice and the rare collectibles in the same ledger, rather than needing two completely separate record books.