Coin

A coin is the native cryptocurrency of its own blockchain. It is created directly by the protocol — typically through mining or staking — and is used to pay transaction fees and reward network participants.

Coin vs token

	Coin	Token
Has own blockchain	Yes	No (built on top)
Examples	BTC, ETH, LTC, KAS	USDT, SHIB, UNI
Created by	Protocol (mining/staking)	Smart contract
Used for	Gas fees, rewards	App-specific purposes

Examples of coins

• Bitcoin (BTC) — native coin of the Bitcoin network
• ETH — native coin of Ethereum, used for gas fees
• Litecoin (LTC) — native coin of the Litecoin network
• Kaspa (KAS) — native coin of the Kaspa network

Why the distinction matters

When receiving mining payouts, you always receive coins — not tokens. However, when bridging or wrapping assets (e.g., WBTC on Ethereum or BTCB on BSC), you get a token representation, not the actual coin.

See also

• Altcoin
• Token
• Blockchain
• Bitcoin