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Get started with the Hedera Token Service - Part 1
Dec 07, 2020
by Cooper Kunz
Developer Evangelist

The Hedera Token Service (HTS) is used via a robust set of APIs for the configuration, minting, and management of tokens on Hedera, without needing to set up and deploy a smart contract. Tokens are as fast, fair, and secure as hbar and cost a fraction of 1¢ USD to transfer.

Let’s take a look at why you’d consider using it versus something like a fungible token with a smart contract on the Ethereum Blockchain, and the different types of functionalities that are available within the Hedera API (HAPI):

With HTS, it’s incredibly easy to create a new token that can represent anything from a stablecoin pegged to the USD value, or an in-game reward system.

Note: while most of the following examples are in JavaScript (v2.0.7), official SDKs supporting Go and Java are also available and implemented very similarly, alongside community-supported SDKs in .NET and various other frameworks and/or languages.

Create a Token

//Create a token


const transaction = await new TokenCreateTransaction().


 .setTokenName("Your Token Name")



 .setTokenSymbol("F")



 .setTreasuryAccountId(treasuryAccountId)



 .setInitialSupply(5000)



 .setAdminKey(adminPublicKey)



 .freezeWith(client);






//Sign the transaction with the token adminKey and the token treasury account private key



const signTx = await (await transaction.sign(adminKey)).sign(treasuryKey);






//Sign the transaction with the client operator private key and submit to a Hedera network



const txResponse = await signTx.execute(client);



 



//Get the receipt of the the transaction



const receipt = await txResponse.getReceipt(client);






//Get the token ID from the receipt



const tokenId = receipt.tokenId;



console.log("The new token ID is " + tokenId);

To show how similar the Hedera Token Service is to use in any of our supported SDKs, here is the same example but in Java. 

//Create the transaction


TokenCreateTransaction transaction = new TokenCreateTransaction()


 .setTokenName("Your Token Name")


 .setTokenSymbol("F")


 .setTreasuryAccountId(treasuryAccountId)


 .setInitialSupply(5000)


 .setAdminKey(adminKey.getPublicKey());





//Build the unsigned transaction, sign with admin private key of the token, sign with the token treasury private key, submit the transaction to a Hedera network


TransactionResponse txResponse = transaction.freezeWith(client).sign(adminKey).sign(treasuryKey).execute(client);





//Request the receipt of the transaction


TransactionReceipt receipt = txResponse.getReceipt(client);





//Get the token ID from the receipt


TokenId tokenId = receipt.tokenId;


System.out.println("The new token ID is " + tokenId);

And here is the same relevant code example for the Go SDK.

//Create the transaction and freeze the unsigned transaction


tokenCreateTransaction, err := hedera.NewTokenCreateTransaction().


	 SetTokenName("Your Token Name").


		SetTokenSymbol("F").


		SetTreasuryAccountID(treasuryAccountId).


		SetInitialSupply(1000).


		SetAdminKey(adminKey).


		FreezeWith(client)


if err != nil {


	panic(err)


}



//Sign with the admin private key of the token, sign with the token treasury private key, sign with the client operator private key and submit the transaction to a Hedera network


txResponse, err := tokenCreateTransaction.Sign(adminKey).Sign(treasuryKey).Execute(client)


if err != nil {


	panic(err)


}





//Request the receipt of the transaction


receipt, err := txResponse.GetReceipt(client)


if err != nil {


	panic(err)


}





//Get the token ID from the receipt


tokenId := *receipt.TokenID


fmt.Printf("The new token ID is %v\n", tokenId)

Token Associations

Before another account can receive or send this specific token ID, they have to become “associated” with it — this helps reduce unwanted spam, potential tax liability, or other concerns from users that don’t want to be associated with any of the variety of tokens that will be created on HTS.

//Associate a token to an account and freeze the unsigned transaction for signing


const transaction = await new TokenAssociateTransaction()



 .setAccountId(accountId)



 .setTokenIds([tokenId])



 .freezeWith(client);






//Sign with the private key of the account that is being associated to a token 



const signTx = await transaction.sign(accountKey);






//Submit the transaction to a Hedera network 



const txResponse = await signTx.execute(client);






//Request the receipt of the transaction



const receipt = await txResponse.getReceipt(client);



 



//Get the transaction consensus status



const transactionStatus = receipt.status;



console.log("The transaction consensus status " +transactionStatus.toString());

Transferring tokens


Transferring these newly created tokens between accounts, after the token has been created and both accounts are associated with the new token ID, is almost easier. 

//Create the transfer transaction


const transaction = await new TransferTransaction()



 .addTokenTransfer(tokenId, accountId1, -10)



 .addTokenTransfer(tokenId, accountId2, 10)



 .freezeWith(client);






//Sign with the sender account private key



const signTx = await transaction.sign(accountKey1);



 



//Sign with the client operator private key and submit to a Hedera network



const txResponse = await signTx.execute(client);



 



//Request the receipt of the transaction



const receipt = await txResponse.getReceipt(client);



 



//Obtain the transaction consensus status



const transactionStatus = receipt.status;



console.log("The transaction consensus status " +transactionStatus.toString());

Integrating HTS is incredibly easy, within just a few lines of code in your favorite programming language you can create, associate, and transfer tokens. Please continue reading onto Part 2 of this HTS introduction in order to learn more about the administration functionalities provided by HAPI, and in Part 3 we will discuss other compliance mechanisms like KYC compliance.

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