ERC-1155: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters for Crypto Tokens

When you trade a token on Ethereum, you’re usually dealing with one of two types: something like ETH or USDC that’s interchangeable (fungible), or a unique digital collectible like an NFT (non-fungible). But what if you could do both in a single contract? That’s where ERC-1155, a multi-token standard on Ethereum that lets one smart contract manage multiple types of tokens at once. Also known as Semi-Fungible Token Standard, it’s the quiet engine behind many of today’s most efficient crypto projects.

Before ERC-1155, every time you wanted to send a fungible token and an NFT in the same transaction, you needed two separate contracts, two separate approvals, and paid double the gas. ERC-1155 changes that. It lets developers bundle dozens—sometimes hundreds—of tokens into one smart contract. Need to send 10 ETH, 5 rare NFTs, and 100 in-game coins all at once? ERC-1155 handles it in a single transaction. That’s not just convenient—it saves money, reduces complexity, and cuts down on blockchain bloat.

This standard doesn’t just make things cheaper. It unlocks new use cases. Think video games where your character’s sword (an NFT), your gold coins (fungible), and your limited-edition skin (another NFT) all live in the same system. Or marketplaces that sell both collectibles and utility tokens without juggling multiple contracts. Projects using ERC-1155 can update token rules on the fly, batch transfers, and even pause or freeze specific tokens without affecting the whole contract. It’s more than an upgrade—it’s a redesign of how tokens behave on-chain.

And it’s not just theory. Many of the biggest NFT collections and DeFi platforms now rely on ERC-1155 because it scales better and costs less than older standards like ERC-20 or ERC-721. You’ll find it in play-to-earn games, digital fashion, and even real-world asset tokenization. The real win? It gives users fewer steps, fewer approvals, and fewer surprises.

What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t just a list of tokens. It’s a snapshot of how ERC-1155’s flexibility shows up in the wild—from meme coins built on multi-token logic to platforms trying to simplify how you interact with crypto assets. Some projects use it well. Others misuse it. Some are scams hiding behind technical jargon. We cut through the noise to show you what’s real, what’s risky, and what actually moves the needle.