Tokens

Tokens on Ethereum / Gnosis Chain can come to represent any and everything, as determined by the issuer of the token. This is how real world assets like real estate, dollars, or gold can come to be traded, invested, borrowed or lent on Ethereum.

Usually, ownership over assets is represented by a piece of paper. This piece of paper is a symbol of ownership of the asset in question.

Similarly, a ‘token’ is a digital symbol of ownership. On Ethereum / Gnosis Chain, you own a token in the same way you own the deed to a house. The piece of paper isn’t necessarily the valuable thing; it just symbolizing ownership.

A token is a digital possession. Bitcoin was the first digital token. A token is a digital asset that only exists on the internet. Unlike most files, images or data on computers or the internet, tokens cannot be duplicated. When you send someone a token you cannot keep a copy yourself.

A ‘token’ is the term adopted by the blockchain, cryptocurrency and crypto-asset world. A ‘token’ is a symbol of ownership over something. What that thing ‘is’, is very flexible. Some tokens represent US Dollars, others tokens represent Gold. Cryptocurrrencies like Bitcoin and Ether are themselves tokens.

RealTokens

RealTokens are the purchasable asset; the digital representation of ownership in the LLC / Inc. that owns the deed to the property. Each property on RealT has its own set of unique RealTokens associated with it.

‘Tokenization’ refers to the process of defining ownership over something as ownership in a digital token on Ethereum / Gnosis Chain. Companies like Circle have produced tokenized Dollars, Paxos has produced tokenized gold, and now RealT has produced tokenized real estate!

Tokenization refers to the process to which an ‘off-chain asset’ becomes represent ‘on-chain’. On-chain refers to being included in the Ethereum blockchain. This is involves process requiring legal structure and compliance, and depends on every jurisdiction and asset class.