A guide to help you make smart decisions when creating tokens with Nova Launch.
Ask yourself:
- What problem does my token solve?
- Who will use it?
- How will it be distributed?
- What's the long-term plan?
- Look at successful tokens in your category
- Study their tokenomics
- Learn from their mistakes
- Identify what makes them unique
- How many tokens do you need?
- Will you mint more later?
- What's the distribution plan?
- How will you maintain value?
Best Practices:
- ✅ Clear and descriptive
- ✅ Easy to remember
- ✅ Reflects your brand or purpose
- ✅ Professional sounding
- ✅ 3-32 characters
Avoid:
- ❌ Generic names (Token, Coin, Money)
- ❌ Copyrighted names
- ❌ Offensive or controversial terms
- ❌ Confusing spellings
- ❌ Too long or complex
Examples:
- ✅ "Community Rewards Token"
- ✅ "Stellar Gaming Credits"
- ✅ "EcoPoints"
- ❌ "Token123"
- ❌ "xxxxxxxxToken"
Best Practices:
- ✅ 3-5 characters (sweet spot)
- ✅ Uppercase letters
- ✅ Memorable and unique
- ✅ Related to token name
- ✅ Easy to type
Avoid:
- ❌ Copying existing symbols (BTC, ETH, XLM)
- ❌ Confusing characters (O vs 0, I vs 1)
- ❌ Too long (hard to remember)
- ❌ Random letters
Examples:
- ✅ REWARD (for Rewards Token)
- ✅ GAME (for Gaming Credits)
- ✅ ECO (for EcoPoints)
- ❌ AAAA
- ❌ X1Y2Z3
Common Choices:
| Decimals | Use Case | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Whole units only | Tickets, NFTs, memberships |
| 2 | Currency-like | Loyalty points, gift cards |
| 7 | Stellar standard | General purpose tokens |
| 18 | Maximum divisibility | DeFi, micro-transactions |
Recommendations:
- Default: Use 7 (Stellar standard)
- Tickets/NFTs: Use 0
- Loyalty points: Use 2
- Unsure: Use 7
Important: Decimals cannot be changed after deployment!
Formula: Actual Supply = (Your Input) × 10^(Decimals)
Examples with 7 decimals:
- Want 1,000 tokens? Enter:
10000000000(1,000 × 10^7) - Want 1,000,000 tokens? Enter:
10000000000000(1,000,000 × 10^7) - Want 1 billion tokens? Enter:
10000000000000000(1,000,000,000 × 10^7)
Tips:
- Use our built-in calculator
- Double-check your math
- Test on testnet first
- Consider future minting needs
Common Mistakes:
- ❌ Forgetting to account for decimals
- ❌ Off by powers of 10
- ❌ Creating too many or too few tokens
Technical Requirements:
- Format: PNG, JPG, GIF, or SVG
- Max size: 5 MB
- Recommended: 512x512 pixels
Design Tips:
- ✅ Square format (1:1 ratio)
- ✅ Transparent background (PNG)
- ✅ Simple, recognizable design
- ✅ Works at small sizes
- ✅ High contrast
- ✅ Professional quality
Avoid:
- ❌ Blurry or pixelated images
- ❌ Complex designs that don't scale
- ❌ Copyrighted images
- ❌ Text-heavy logos
- ❌ Low contrast
Tools:
- Canva - Easy logo maker
- Figma - Professional design
- GIMP - Free image editor
- TinyPNG - Compress images
Best Practices:
- ✅ Clear and concise (under 200 characters ideal)
- ✅ Explain token purpose
- ✅ Mention key benefits
- ✅ Professional tone
- ✅ No spelling errors
Include:
- What the token is for
- Who can use it
- Key features or benefits
- How to get more info
Example Good Descriptions:
- "Community rewards token for active platform members. Earn by participating, redeem for exclusive benefits."
- "Gaming credits for the Stellar Arcade ecosystem. Use to purchase items, enter tournaments, and unlock features."
- "Carbon offset credits representing verified environmental impact. Trade or retire to offset your carbon footprint."
Avoid:
- ❌ Vague descriptions ("A token for stuff")
- ❌ Hype language ("To the moon! 🚀🚀🚀")
- ❌ False promises
- ❌ Excessive emojis
- ❌ Spelling/grammar errors
Do:
- ✅ Write down recovery phrase on paper
- ✅ Store in a safe place (fireproof safe, safety deposit box)
- ✅ Use a strong, unique password
- ✅ Enable all security features
- ✅ Verify transaction details before signing
- ✅ Keep software updated
Don't:
- ❌ Share recovery phrase with anyone
- ❌ Store recovery phrase digitally
- ❌ Use the same password as other accounts
- ❌ Approve transactions you don't understand
- ❌ Install wallet extensions from unofficial sources
Before Deploying:
- ✅ Test on testnet first
- ✅ Verify all parameters
- ✅ Check you're on the correct network
- ✅ Ensure sufficient balance
- ✅ Save all deployment information
During Deployment:
- ✅ Review transaction carefully
- ✅ Verify contract address
- ✅ Don't refresh the page
- ✅ Wait for confirmation
After Deployment:
- ✅ Save token contract address
- ✅ Save transaction hash
- ✅ Verify on Stellar Explorer
- ✅ Test a small transfer
- ✅ Back up all information
Benefits:
- Free test XLM (no cost)
- Practice the process
- Verify parameters
- Test integrations
- Find issues early
- No financial risk
What to Test:
- Wallet connection
- Token deployment
- Metadata upload
- Token transfers
- Minting (if needed)
- Burning (if needed)
- Integration with your app
Before mainnet deployment:
- Deployed on testnet successfully
- Verified all parameters are correct
- Tested token transfers
- Checked metadata displays correctly
- Calculated supply correctly
- Tested with your application (if applicable)
- Reviewed all transaction details
- Saved all important information
- Have sufficient XLM for mainnet
- Double-checked network selection
Options:
- Manual transfers: Send to recipients one by one
- Airdrop: Distribute to many addresses at once
- Sale: Sell tokens for XLM or other assets
- Rewards: Give tokens for specific actions
- Liquidity pool: Enable trading on DEXs
Considerations:
- How many recipients?
- What's the timeline?
- What's the cost?
- How to prevent abuse?
- Legal/regulatory requirements?
Planning:
- Define eligibility criteria
- Set clear rules
- Announce in advance
- Prepare recipient list
- Calculate costs (transaction fees)
Execution:
- Verify all addresses
- Test with small amounts first
- Use batch transactions if possible
- Monitor for errors
- Keep records
Communication:
- Announce the airdrop
- Explain how to claim
- Provide support
- Share token contract address
- Follow up with recipients
Initial Supply:
- Start conservative
- Can always mint more
- Can't unmint (except by burning)
- Consider future needs
Minting Strategy:
- Will you mint more tokens?
- When and why?
- How much at a time?
- Who controls minting?
Burning Strategy:
- Will tokens be burned?
- What triggers burning?
- How does it affect supply?
- Impact on token value?
Strategies:
- Limit total supply
- Burn tokens over time
- Create utility and demand
- Build a strong community
- Deliver on promises
- Maintain transparency
Avoid:
- Excessive minting
- Broken promises
- Lack of utility
- Poor communication
- Rug pulls or scams
Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. Consult with legal professionals.
Questions to Consider:
- Is your token a security?
- What are local regulations?
- Do you need licenses?
- What are tax implications?
- Are there disclosure requirements?
Best Practices:
- Research local laws
- Consult legal experts
- Be transparent
- Keep records
- Follow regulations
- Don't make false promises
Communication:
- Regular updates
- Clear roadmap
- Transparent decisions
- Active support
- Community feedback
Channels:
- Discord/Telegram
- Twitter/X
- Website/blog
- Email newsletter
- GitHub (if open source)
Activities:
- AMAs (Ask Me Anything)
- Contests and giveaways
- Governance votes
- Community events
- Educational content
Key Factors:
- Real utility
- Strong community
- Clear vision
- Consistent execution
- Adaptability
- Transparency
Avoid:
- Overpromising
- Neglecting community
- Lack of updates
- Poor communication
- Abandoning project
Phase 1: Launch
- Deploy token
- Initial distribution
- Build awareness
- Establish community
Phase 2: Adoption
- Increase utility
- Grow user base
- List on exchanges
- Partnerships
Phase 3: Maturity
- Stable ecosystem
- Self-sustaining
- Continuous improvement
- Long-term vision
- ❌ Wrong decimal calculation
- ❌ Deploying on wrong network
- ❌ Typos in token details
- ❌ Insufficient testing
- ❌ Not saving contract address
- ❌ No clear purpose
- ❌ Poor tokenomics
- ❌ Overpromising
- ❌ Ignoring community
- ❌ Lack of transparency
- ❌ Sharing private keys
- ❌ Not backing up information
- ❌ Skipping security checks
- ❌ Trusting unverified sources
- ❌ Ignoring red flags
Before launching your token:
Planning
- Clear purpose and use case
- Researched similar projects
- Calculated tokenomics
- Defined distribution strategy
- Considered legal implications
Technical
- Tested on testnet
- Verified all parameters
- Prepared metadata
- Have sufficient XLM
- Understand the process
Security
- Wallet properly secured
- Recovery phrase backed up
- Verified contract address
- Tested transactions
- Saved all information
Community
- Communication channels ready
- Announcement prepared
- Support plan in place
- Documentation created
- Feedback mechanism established
- Read our FAQ
- Check Troubleshooting Guide
- Join our Discord
- Email: support@nova-launch.app
Ready to deploy? Follow these best practices and launch your token with confidence! 🚀