Glossary
SPL Token
Solana's native fungible-token standard — implemented by the SPL Token program at a fixed address that every Solana wallet and DEX knows.
SPL Token is to Solana what ERC-20 is to Ethereum, with one key architectural difference: there is no separate token contract per asset. Every fungible token is a "mint account" handled by the single canonical SPL Token program. Balances are stored in per-user "token accounts" associated with each mint.
The model gives Solana a unified, optimized code path for token operations. The newer Token-2022 (SPL Token Extension) program adds optional features (transfer hooks, confidential transfers, interest-bearing tokens) without breaking the original interface.