Answer
What is Token-2022?
Token-2022 is Solana's newer token program — a separate program from the original SPL token program that can keep a token's metadata inside the mint account and support opt-in extensions, and it is what pump.fun's current launches use.
A second token program
Solana has two token programs. The original, usually called SPL Token, was the default for years. Token-2022 is a separate program with its own address; the two do not share accounts, and a wallet has to support both to display both.
That split is the main practical cost. Everything downstream — wallets, screeners, indexers, portfolio trackers — has to know which program owns a mint before it can read it, and each one has had to ship that support separately.
For a buyer the practical question is which program a mint belongs to, because that decides which tools can read it at all.
- Same concepts: mints, token accounts, authorities.
- Different program address; a Token-2022 mint is not an SPL Token mint.
- A tool built only for the original program will not parse a Token-2022 mint without an update.
Metadata inside the mint
On the original program a token's name, ticker and image live in a separate metadata account maintained by a third party. Token-2022 can carry them in the mint itself, which removes that dependency and one more party who could rewrite them.
Keeping metadata with the mint means the token's identity and its supply are governed by the same account and the same authorities — easier to check, harder to split.
That is also why a measured pump.fun mint is 406 bytes rather than the smaller mint the original program produces: the identity travels with the supply.
- Name, ticker and image are set at creation and, on a pump.fun coin, cannot be changed afterwards.
- No separate metadata account to be re-pointed or overwritten.
- The mint account is larger as a result: 406 bytes on a measured pump.fun launch, rent 0.00271272 SOL.
Why a launchpad picks it
Extensions are the reason. Token-2022 supports behaviour the original program cannot: transfer fees, interest-bearing balances, non-transferable tokens, confidential transfers and metadata pointers.
For a memecoin the extensions are mostly unused — the point is the architecture, not the features. What matters to a buyer is that the authorities are null and the metadata is fixed, and that is what the mint account shows.
A launch also inherits the compatibility cost. Venues and tools that read only the original program will treat a Token-2022 mint as invisible until they catch up.
- A launchpad can add behaviour without deploying its own token program.
- Extensions are opt-in per mint, so a plain coin uses none of them.
- The trade-off is compatibility: some venues and tools lag behind.
Related questions
Is Token-2022 the same as SPL Token?
No. It is a separate program with its own address; any given mint belongs to one program or the other.
Does Token-2022 make a token safer?
Not by itself. Safety comes from which authorities are live and who holds them, not from which program issued the mint.
Why did my wallet not show a Token-2022 token?
The wallet or tool likely reads only the original program; support has to be added per program.
Where to go next
- What are mint, freeze and update authorities?
- How much does it cost to create a Solana token without a launchpad?
- The full launch guide: costs, socials, 21-day runway
- Every question we have answered
If the brand and the page are what is stopping you
Mint a Brand draws the icon, banner and stickers, builds the token site on its own subdomain and prepares the launch for your wallet to sign, for $30. Your wallet pays the network fee and is the creator of record.
Sources
Checked 2026-10-31 · nothing here is financial advice, and most meme coins go to zero.