assets

Stellar Assets, Trustlines, and SAC

Stellar's native token mechanism: classic asset issuance, trustlines, and the Stellar Asset Contract (SAC) bridge that makes classic assets usable from smart contracts. Default to classic assets over custom contract tokens unless you need custom logic.

When to use this skill

• Issuing a new asset (stablecoin, security token, utility token)
• Setting up trustlines from a client or contract
• Managing issuer flags (auth required, auth revocable, clawback)
• Bridging a classic asset into a smart contract via SAC
• Building regulated-asset flows (compliance, KYC, freeze)

Related skills

• Custom token contracts (when classic isn't enough) → ../smart-contracts/SKILL.md
• UI flows for trustline creation and asset display → ../dapp/SKILL.md
• Looking up balances and trustline state → ../data/SKILL.md
• Token-related SEPs (SEP-41, SEP-7, etc.) → ../standards/SKILL.md

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Overview

Stellar has two token mechanisms:

1. Stellar Assets (Classic): Built-in, highly efficient, full ecosystem support
2. Contract tokens (SEP-41): Custom contracts with flexible logic

Recommendation: Prefer Stellar Assets unless you need custom token logic.

Stellar Assets (Classic)

Asset Types

Type	Description
Native (XLM)	Stellar's native currency, no trustline needed
Credit	Issued by an account, requires trustline
Liquidity Pool Shares	Represent LP positions

Asset Identifiers

import * as StellarSdk from "@stellar/stellar-sdk";

// Native XLM
const xlm = StellarSdk.Asset.native();

// Credit asset (code + issuer)
const usdc = new StellarSdk.Asset(
  "USDC",
  "GA5ZSEJYB37JRC5AVCIA5MOP4RHTM335X2KGX3IHOJAPP5RE34K4KZVN"
);

// Asset code rules:
// - 1-4 chars: alphanumeric (credit_alphanum4)
// - 5-12 chars: alphanumeric (credit_alphanum12)

Issuing Assets

Create Issuing Account

import * as StellarSdk from "@stellar/stellar-sdk";

const server = new StellarSdk.Horizon.Server("https://horizon-testnet.stellar.org");

// 1. Create issuing account (should be separate from distribution)
const issuerKeypair = StellarSdk.Keypair.random();
const distributorKeypair = StellarSdk.Keypair.random();

// 2. Fund accounts (testnet)
await fetch(`https://friendbot.stellar.org?addr=${issuerKeypair.publicKey()}`);
await fetch(`https://friendbot.stellar.org?addr=${distributorKeypair.publicKey()}`);