Stellar's SEP-41 Token Standard Offers Cheaper, Safer Alternative to Ethereum's ERC-20

SEP-41, or Stellar Ecosystem Proposal 41, is the official token interface standard for Soroban, Stellar's smart contract platform, designed as a more efficient and secure alternative to Ethereum's ERC-20. The standard includes core functions such as transfer, approve, balance, and burn, but distinguishes itself by embedding authorization directly into the protocol layer, reducing the risk of exploits that have cost the industry billions. A key design feature is the expiration_ledger parameter in approval calls, which forces token approvals to expire automatically rather than remaining open indefinitely as with ERC-20. On the cost side, SEP-41 transactions settle in roughly five seconds at fees as low as 0.00001 XLM, compared to ERC-20 transfers that can cost several dollars during Ethereum network congestion. The standard also integrates with other Stellar protocols such as SEP-8 for regulated assets and SEP-24 for on/off ramps, making it suited for real-world asset tokenization use cases.