Launching an ERC-20 token is less about “writing a contract” and more about coordinating security, economics, infrastructure, and operations under real adversarial conditions. Mainnet doesn’t forgive sloppy access control, ambiguous tokenomics, or half-tested deployment scripts.
Below is a concrete checklist we use at ChainMagic Studio to take a token from repo to mainnet with fewer surprises.
1) Define the token’s job (utility beats vibes)
Before you touch Solidity, write down what the token does on day one.
- Utility: governance, fee token, staking, collateral, points-to-token conversion, or purely transferable.
- Constraints: is it supposed to be non-upgradeable? Is minting allowed post-launch?
- Users: who acquires it, who holds it, who sells it, and why?
Opinionated take: if you cannot describe the token’s value flow in 5–7 bullet points (who pays, who earns, why it grows), you are not ready to deploy.
2) Tokenomics & supply schedule (write it like code)
Common mainnet failures are economic, not technical.
Checklist:
- Total supply: fixed cap vs inflationary.
- Initial distribution: team, treasury, community, investors, liquidity, airdrops.
- Vesting: cliffs, linear unlocks, revocability, and on-chain vs off-chain enforcement.
- Emissions: if rewards exist, define rate changes and governance controls.
- Transfer restrictions (if any): avoid bespoke “anti-bot” logic unless you fully understand the downstream DEX implications.
Practical tip: represent your supply schedule in a spreadsheet and in tests. Tests should assert that the final minted amount equals the documented cap and that vesting contracts can’t exceed allocations.
3) Contract architecture: minimal, standard, auditable
Use battle-tested libraries.
- ERC-20 implementation: OpenZeppelin ERC20 is the baseline.
- Extensions: only add what you need (Permit/EIP-2612, Votes, Pausable, Capped, etc.).
- Access control: prefer
Ownable for simple cases, AccessControl for multiple roles.
- Upgradeability: be honest—upgradeable contracts add operational and trust overhead. If you go upgradeable, document admin powers and timelocks.
Opinionated take: “upgradeable because we might need it” is not a strategy. If you can’t articulate the upgrade policy (who, how, when, what safeguards), don’t ship proxies.
4) Security fundamentals (where most teams slip)
Mainnet attackers are systematic. Your token launch must assume:
- compromised deployer machine
- leaked private key
- malicious or broken admin
- MEV bots monitoring mempool
Checklist:
- No hidden mint: ensure mint functions are removed or permanently disabled if supply is fixed.
- Role hygiene: no “god mode” functions without timelocks/multisig.
- Reentrancy: token transfers are generally safe, but anything interacting with external contracts (vesting, staking, claims) must be reviewed.
- Event correctness: make sure mint/burn/role changes emit standard events.
- Blocklist/fees: if you add transfer taxes or blocklists, expect exchange/DEX integration friction.
5) Testing: unit, integration, and fork tests
Passing unit tests is table stakes. Your launch should include environment-relevant tests.
Checklist:
- Unit tests: balances, allowances, permit signatures, role gating, caps.
- Invariant/property tests: totalSupply never exceeds cap; vesting cannot release early.
- Mainnet fork tests: simulate deployment and liquidity provisioning on a fork (Hardhat/Foundry) against real router addresses.
- Gas profiling: ensure key flows are not prohibitively expensive.
Real-world example: teams often forget that their “max wallet” restriction breaks Uniswap V2 pair mechanics or blocks router transfers. Fork tests catch this quickly.
6) Pre-deployment ops: keys, multisig, and timelocks
Before you deploy, decide how you’ll control and secure the system.
Checklist:
- Multisig: use Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe) for ownership/admin roles.
- Timelock: for sensitive actions (minting, parameter changes), use a timelock contract.
- Key ceremony: document who holds keys, recovery plans, and signing policies.
- Permissions map: write a “who can do what” table and publish it.
If you’re raising funds, investors and exchanges increasingly expect professional operational security—multisig plus timelock is the norm.
7) Deployment plan: deterministic, scripted, repeatable
Manual deployments are where mistakes happen.
Checklist:
- Deployment scripts: Foundry scripts or Hardhat deploy; no ad-hoc Remix deployments.
- Deterministic addresses: consider CREATE2 if integrations need known addresses ahead of time.
- Network config: chainId checks, correct RPC endpoints, Etherscan API keys.
- Dry run: deploy to a testnet and to a mainnet fork using the exact scripts.
- Rollback strategy: if you’re using proxies, know how to pause/upgrade. If non-upgradeable, know your contingency plan (often: communicate and migrate).
8) Verification & transparency: make it legible on-chain
Trust comes from verifiability.
Checklist:
- Verify contracts on Etherscan (and Sourcify if possible).
- Publish source with correct compiler settings and constructor args.
- Tag releases in GitHub; link commit hash in docs.
- Document addresses: token, vesting, treasury, multisig, timelock, DEX pools.
Optional but strong: publish a short “contract spec” describing critical functions and admin powers in plain English.
9) Liquidity & launch mechanics (DEX, CEX, or both)
Most tokens “launch” via liquidity on a DEX. The mechanics matter.
Checklist:
- Choose venue: Uniswap V2 vs V3 (V3 requires active liquidity management decisions).
- Initial price: define it based on circulating supply and target market cap, not vibes.
- Liquidity source: treasury-funded, raise-funded, or third-party.
- LP ownership: will LP tokens be locked, burned, or held by a multisig?
- MEV considerations: consider private transaction submission (e.g., Flashbots Protect / MEV-Blocker) for initial liquidity adds.
If you’re using transfer fees, test DEX interactions thoroughly; many routers and aggregators assume vanilla ERC-20 semantics.
10) Post-launch: monitoring, comms, and ongoing governance
The launch isn’t the finish line; it’s the start of adversarial production.
Checklist:
- Monitoring: track transfers, liquidity changes, large holders, and contract events.
- Alerts: set up on-chain alerts (Tenderly, OpenZeppelin Defender, custom bots).
- Incident response: a runbook for pausing (if available), communicating, and coordinating signers.
- Governance plan: if governance exists, publish the process and timeline; avoid surprise parameter changes.
- Token lists: submit to token lists (Uniswap, CoinGecko/CMC processes) with verified metadata.
Conclusion: treat mainnet like production finance
An ERC-20 token launch is a production financial system deployment. The checklist above is intentionally operational: contracts, keys, liquidity, verification, and monitoring are inseparable.
If you do three things exceptionally well, do these: (1) keep the contract minimal and standard, (2) secure admin powers with multisig + timelock, and (3) rehearse the launch with fork tests and scripted deployments. Mainnet rewards teams who are boring, explicit, and prepared.