What Is a Solana SPL Token?
Mints, decimals, token accounts and metadata explained — the parts of a Solana token you actually choose when launching one.
Updated · 5 min read
The mint is the token
On Solana, a token is defined by a mint account. The mint records the total supply, the number of decimals and which authority, if any, may mint more. The address people call the contract address is the mint address, and it is what wallets, explorers and aggregators key everything else off.
Token accounts hold balances
Balances do not live on the mint. Each holder has an associated token account for that mint, created the first time they receive the token. That is why receiving a new token costs a small amount of rent, and why your own first buy creates an account in your wallet.
Metadata is what makes it look like a real token
A mint on its own has no name or logo. Metadata attaches the name, symbol and a URI pointing at the logo and description, which is what wallets display. A launch that skips metadata produces a token that shows up as an unknown mint — one of the most common reasons a self-deployed token looks broken.
- Mint address: the token's identity and supply rules
- Decimals: how divisible each unit is
- Token accounts: per-holder balances
- Metadata: name, symbol, logo and description