Bitcoin and Ether are coins: each is the native asset of its own chain, used to pay that chain's transaction fees and issued by its consensus rules. A token has no chain of its own. It is created and tracked by a contract running on a host network, which is why sending one still requires the host chain's coin to pay gas.
The distinction matters for risk. A coin inherits the security of its network; a token inherits the network's security plus whatever its own contract does, and contracts can be written to mint new supply, freeze balances or block transfers. The same token also frequently exists on several chains at once, and the versions are not interchangeable.
Why do I need ETH to send an ERC-20 token?
The token lives in a contract on Ethereum, and running that contract costs gas, which is payable only in the network's native coin. Holding the token alone leaves no way to pay for the transaction.
Last updated October 17, 2026