A beginner explanation of the difference between a coin and a token, why native assets matter, and why RealCryptoCap treats stablecoins, wrapped assets, and tokenized products differently.
A coin is usually the native asset of its own blockchain. BTC is native to Bitcoin. ETH is native to Ethereum. SOL is native to Solana. These assets usually pay fees, secure the network, participate in staking or mining economics, or act as the base unit of the chain.
A token is usually issued on top of an existing blockchain using a smart contract or token standard. USDC on Ethereum, an ERC-20 governance token, or a DeFi receipt token are examples. Tokens can be useful, but they are not the same as the native asset of the chain they live on.
Stablecoins are tokens designed to track fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. They are extremely important for liquidity and trading, but they are not native crypto market cap in the same way as BTC or ETH. Counting them alongside native assets can inflate the picture of how much value is actually in crypto networks.
Wrapped assets represent another asset on a different chain or inside a different system. WBTC, bridged ETH, liquid staking tokens, and exchange-wrapped assets can be useful, but they introduce custody, bridge, redemption, smart-contract, or issuer assumptions. They can also double-count exposure that already exists elsewhere.
Tokenized stocks, treasuries, bonds, gold, funds, and other real-world assets are financial wrappers around off-chain assets. They may be important products, but they are not the same thing as native crypto networks. RealCryptoCap excludes them from the main top-500 native-asset ranking.
The difference matters because market cap is a denominator for many narratives. If you mix native coins, stablecoins, wrapped receipts, tokenized funds, and synthetic exposure into one table, BTC dominance, altcoin breadth, and total crypto market size become harder to interpret.
A simple rule: native coins are base assets of their own networks; tokens are issued on top of a network; stablecoins are pegged payment/liquidity instruments; wrapped assets are representations; tokenized RWAs are claims or records tied to off-chain assets. Each can matter, but they should not all be counted the same way.