Adding a new token to the network after it has already started

Miscellaneous
1

Hi there.

Is there a way to add a new token to an already-running Cosmos application chain? For example, let’s say the staking token is “ABC”, and the network is running already. Now, let’s say I wanted to add a new token FOO that people could have balances of, and in fact, even have some validators who are willing to accept GAS that is paid for with a minimum gas price, expressed in FOO.

Can I do this? I am not sure. It almost seems like I would have to define FOO in the genesis before the network started – otherwise, how can it FOO even come into existence?

Hope this makes sense. I want to know if I can add arbitrary new tokens to the network, after the fact. I am pretty sure I can do this before hand by simply modifying the accounts.coins section of genesis.json and adding whatever I want in there.

Thanks.

2

This would depend on the code of the network, usually it would require a hardfork of course

Edit: of course, it would depend on the code of the netwrok and the new token, whether it conflicts with anything in consensus.

3

It is possible and in fact, it has been Already done in the past. Last winter, tendermint team has introduced a concept of photinos on one of the gaia testnets.

4

It is hard to imagine how this would happen without a hardfork where the genesis is re-written to support a new token, and then we use other mechanisms to rebuild the state of the network before the hardfork.

I assume a new token cannot just magically appear in a cosmos wallet with a certain balance.

1 Like
5

may you kindly refer to some reference/tutorial on how to change the chain id and token ticker for a mainnet?

Thnx in advance!

6

Consider examining the fundamental principles of the Tendermint/CometBFT consensus, specifically the Byzantine Fault Tolerance test. In brief:

  • If a third of the network is unresponsive or in disagreement, the network ceases to function.
  • Two-thirds of the network participants can cause any desired outcome.
  • Any other scenario in between is highly unlikely.

Adding complex mathematics and pretending to solve the issue only adds unnecessary complexity to the problem.

7

You can look at tokenfactory module. This is a module deployed on some chains (Osmosis, Neutron, Juno, Chihuahua) - though the exact implementation may deviate between chains, that allows creating a token without a hardfork.

And yes, with the tokenfactory module, a token can magically appear in a cosmos wallet with a certain balance, as the creator (admin) of the token can usually decide to mint tokens in any wallet.

Regards,
arlai