What Is ERC-6960

What is ERC-6960

ERC-6960 is a next-generation token standard pioneered by Polytrade to represent Real World Assets (RWAs) onchain in a modular, flexible way. Unlike older standards, ERC-6960 natively supports fractional ownership, hierarchical asset structures, and dynamic rights management—making it a foundational building block for scalable and interoperable RWA protocols.

To understand why ERC-6960 matters, consider the limitations of existing standards:

• ERC-20 is designed for fungible tokens—like currencies—where every unit is interchangeable. It’s simple and widely adopted, but unsuitable for representing unique or fractional assets.

• ERC-721 allows for unique tokens, often used in NFTs, but lacks native support for fractionalization or nested ownership.

• ERC-1155 is a hybrid standard that supports both fungible and non-fungible tokens. While more efficient for batch operations, it still doesn't offer native mechanisms for layered ownership, fractional rights, or real-world asset mapping.

ERC-6960 changes this paradigm by allowing a single real-world asset (like a building, gold bar, or legal contract) to be broken down into multiple layers or "slots" of ownership, where each slot can carry distinct rights, values, or governance power. Imagine a building tokenized as a single ERC-6960 asset: different wallets can own fractions of its rental rights, maintenance obligations, or resale proceeds—all in a trustless, verifiable format.

Think of it like slicing a pizza—where each slice not only belongs to someone different but also comes with different toppings and rules. ERC-6960 provides the structure and metadata to enforce that complexity natively onchain.

By enabling this rich asset composition model, ERC-6960 makes RWA tokenization more inclusive, composable, and accessible, opening the door for broader retail participation and deeper integration with decentralized financial infrastructure.