eERC — Standalone vs Converter Mode

Overview

eERC has two operating modes, fixed at deployment by the isConverter flag on EncryptedERC. The mode determines which operations are valid and how supply is managed.

Standalone Mode (isConverter: false)

• Creates an entirely new private ERC-20.
• Supply managed by privateMint / privateBurn ([[eerc-mint-burn]]).
• Total supply can be hidden — strongest privacy.
• name / symbol are set at deploy (e.g. "Test", "TEST").
• Ideal for: enterprise/native tokens, regulated private markets, anything private from genesis.

Converter Mode (isConverter: true)

• Wraps an existing ERC-20 into an encrypted form via a TokenTracker.
• Supply managed by deposit (wrap) / withdraw (unwrap) ([[eerc-deposit-withdraw]]).
• name / symbol are typically left empty (derived per wrapped token).
• Maintains compatibility with the original asset; users opt into privacy and can exit.
• Ideal for: adding optional privacy to an existing token without changing the base asset.

Decision matrix

You want...	Mode
A new token that is private from day one	Standalone
Hidden total supply	Standalone
To add privacy to an existing ERC-20 (e.g. USDC)	Converter
Users to move funds in/out of a public token	Converter

How it's set (deploy)

// Standalone
await factory.deploy({ registrar, isConverter: false, name: "Test", symbol: "TEST", /* verifiers */, decimals });
// Converter
await factory.deploy({ registrar, isConverter: true, name: "", symbol: "", /* verifiers */, decimals });

Full deploy: [[eerc-deploy-contracts]].

Common Pitfalls

• Calling the wrong ops for the mode. deposit/withdraw only work in converter mode; privateMint/privateBurn are for standalone. The SDK's useEncryptedBalance exposes both, but the contract reverts on the wrong one.
• Expecting to switch modes later. Mode is immutable post-deploy; deploy a new contract to change it.
• Converter without a token address. Converter operations need the wrapped tokenAddress; the SDK hook takes it as a parameter.

AI Agent Prompt

"Act as an eERC architect. Given my use case, recommend Standalone or Converter mode, justify it, and show the corresponding deploy parameters."

References

See references/README.md (deploy-standalone.ts, deploy-converter.ts, academy deployment modes).