ERC-1155 is a standard for smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. It was created to provide a unified framework for creating fungible and non-fungible tokens.
Before the creation of ERC-1155, the two main standards for tokens on Ethereum were ERC-20 (for fungible tokens) and ERC-721 (for non-fungible tokens). Fungible tokens are tokens where each individual unit is exactly the same as every other unit (like traditional fiat money), while non-fungible tokens are unique and not interchangeable (like collectibles).
The problem with the ERC-20 and ERC-721 standards is that they require a new smart contract to be deployed for each new token type, which can be costly in terms of gas (transaction costs on Ethereum) and can create inefficiencies when interacting with different token types.
ERC-1155 seeks to solve these issues by allowing multiple token types to be created and managed within a single contract. This includes both fungible and non-fungible tokens. By creating a unified standard for both types of tokens, ERC-1155 can reduce complexity and increase efficiency in the Ethereum ecosystem.
This standard was created by Enjin, a company that provides blockchain-based gaming solutions. The benefits of the ERC-1155 standard make it especially useful for the gaming industry, where games may want to have multiple types of unique digital assets (weapons, items, characters, etc.), but also in-game currency, all within a single contract.