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Minting creates new tokens. Only the issuer can mint.

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How it works

The issuer signs a transaction saying “create X tokens and give them to Y address.” Spark Operators verify the signature, confirm it doesn’t exceed max supply, and commit the transaction. New tokens now exist. That’s it. No on-chain transaction. No gas. Instant.

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What gets checked

CheckWhy
Issuer signatureOnly the issuer key can create tokens
Token existsYou have to create (register) the token first
Max supplyCan’t mint beyond the cap you set
Not frozenFrozen issuers can’t mint

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Mint vs Create

People confuse these. Create registers a new token type. You do this once. You define the name, ticker, decimals, max supply. Mint creates new units of an existing token. You do this whenever you want more tokens in circulation.

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Supply

If you set a max supply during creation, you can’t mint beyond it. If you didn’t set one, you can mint forever. Most stablecoin issuers mint on-demand: user deposits $100, issuer mints 100 tokens. Supply grows with demand.

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Where tokens go

By default, minted tokens go to the issuer’s address. You can also mint directly to someone else’s address. Useful for airdrops or when you’re minting in response to a deposit.

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Common patterns

Premint everything: Mint total supply upfront, then distribute via transfers. Simple accounting. Mint on demand: Mint as users onboard. Better for stablecoins where supply should match deposits. Batch mint: Send to multiple recipients in one transaction. More efficient.