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Ethereum, which launched in 2015, is the network on which its tradable token Ether (ETH) runs. In short, Ethereum acts as a platform on which developers can build projects or solutions. When a project builds on Ethereum, it may come with an asset for use within that ecosystem, likely an ERC-20 token. Whenever a person sends ERC-20 tokens must also hold ETH in the same wallet to pay for the "gas" fees associated with the transaction. ETH derives its value from these gas fees, plus its usage as collateral, its ability to be lent and borrowed, its use as a medium of exchange for trading and NFTs (nonfungible tokens), and the fact that it can be staked for interest. Also, much of the crypto-asset decentralized finance (DeFi) sector began on, and is still based on, Ethereum.

The Singapore-headquartered digital asset exchange KuCoin detected large withdrawals of bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) tokens to an unknown wallet beginning at 19:05 UTC time on September 25. One or more hackers obtained the private keys to the exchange's hot wallets. The address received transactions of 11,484 Ether, worth roughly $4 million, plus $146 million in transactions of other tokens. Many are little-known, such as Gladius, Chroma, Ocean Token, and Hawala, but there were also Maker, OMG, and YFI tokens in the mix. KuCoin transferred what was left in them to new hot wallets, abandoned the old ones and froze customer deposits and withdrawals. About $150 million worth of tokens were been moved to a different address.

A NFT (non-fungible token) is a special cryptographically-generated token that uses blockchain technology to link with a unique digital asset that cannot be replicated. Non-fungible tokens differ from popular cryptocurrencies such as Ether (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR), which are fungible; for example, you can exchange one Bitcoin for any other Bitcoin. Although the usage of NFTs has spread in various industries, they're synonymously associated with the gaming and digital collectibles sectors and are most commonly found as a specific Ethereum token built on the ERC-721 standard. However, in 2021, their use is starting to spread to other blockchains like Binance Smart Chain's BEP-721 protocol.

Silicon Valley blockchain startup cLabs just raised $10 million for the Celo project through a token sale to accredited investors on the CoinList platform. Roughly 109 investors from dozens of countries participated in the auction, paying an average of $5 per Celo Gold token. The average buyer spent $519 on these tokens and often earned 50 bonus tokens for referrals.

The government of Bermuda has commenced a pilot of a digital stimulus token in partnership with local private payments platform Stablehouse, which is expected to provide initial feedback on the viability of digital tokens in facilitating the purchase of essential products and services. In 2019, Bermuda began developing a blockchain-based digital ID system and announced that the public could pay their taxes with USDC stablecoins. The development of the stimulus token kicked off later in the year as part of the government's larger initiative to create a comprehensive crypto ecosystem on the island that supports the adoption of digital currencies. The pilot token is based on Blockstream's Liquid blockchain protocol while the Greenwallet app will enable payments via a point-of-sale terminal provided by Stablehouse.

"Uniswap is an exchange protocol that allows users to trustlessly swap ERC20 tokens. Rather using the traditional order book model, Uniswap pools tokens into smart contracts and users trade against these liquidity pools. Anyone can swap tokens, add tokens to a pool to earn fees, or list a token on Uniswap.

The IMF published a paper that explores the similarities and differences between distributed ledger technology (DLT) based tokens and traditional legal instruments in commercial law, and how such tokens could offer superior solutions. However, to get there the law should recognize and define DLT and smart contracts to include them within existing legal mechanisms and recognize their effects in transferring tokens and generating rights for parties. In this regard, it is critical to ensure that there is a connection with valid legal effects between DLT and off-line assets and services. In addition, it is necessary to establish rules that allow the use of DLT as evidence, and resolve issues of unlawful transfer (loss, coercion, and fraud). Remedies must exist to protect the rights of legitimate token holders, but good faith acquirers for value must also be protected.

"Trades in today's financial system are inherently subject to settlement uncertainty. This paper explores tokenization as a potential technological solution. A token system, by enabling programmability of assets, can be designed to eradicate settlement uncertainty. We study the allocations achieved in a decentralized market with either the legacy settlement system or a token system. Tokenization can improve efficiency in markets subject to a limited commitment problem. However, it also materially alters the information environment, which in turn aggravates a hold-up problem. This limits potential gains from resolving settlement uncertainty, particularly for markets that depend on intermediaries."

"Staking in crypto parlance involves posting a digital asset like ether to a blockchain as collateral in exchange for the right to process transactions and earn in-kind rewards like tokens. Staked tokens are normally locked up for a period of time so they can't be immediately withdrawn and cause a run on the platform. Liquid staking, by contrast, allows holders of tokens like ether the opportunity to use a tracking token of sorts for trading while the underlying token is still sitting "staked" on the blockchain, continuing to earn yield. In some ways it allows crypto investors the chance to have their cake, or "stake," and eat it too."

Xavier Lavayssière posted a paper that provides an interdisciplinary analysis of asset tokenization to clarify the concept and its effect. The paper identifies three key elements; (i) the link between a token and its underlying asset, (ii) the characteristics of the token and its infrastructures where their essential properties, sharedness and trust-minimization, rather than specific technologies, are established, and (iii) the representation of ownership, with new models of custodianship and identification. The paper also discusses the new roles for the various market participants, from register operators, legal advisors, auditors, and underlying platform operators. Also it covers the challenges that tokenization presents, including issues around privacy, technical security, and redefining concepts of ownership, transfer, finality, and interoperability.

A new trading platform for security tokens has launched with backing from Singapore Exchange. The 1X platform went live with its first listing of an ethereum token, purchasable with Singapore dollars. The token represents about 7% of the shares of Singapore fund manager Aggregate Asset Management.

"If every token of value is a "security," token distribution becomes extremely difficult. Up until the Telegram ruling, a project would initially sell their tokens in a securities law-compliant private or overseas offering. The purchasers then sit through the holding period mandated by the 1933 Act. Thereafter, those purchasers might resell the tokens, often through listing on an exchange. "

"Bet on the coronavirus pandemic by investing on CoronaCoin, the more the virus spreads the more valuable the token becomes. CoronaCoin (NCOV) is a ERC20-compliant token. The total supply is based on the world population (7,604,953,650 NCOV) and the token will be burnt once every 48 hours depending on the number of infected people and fatalities, so the token is deflationary and also non-mintable.

"A complete analysis of token definitions, their main uses, the future of decentralized applications and token-economy, in an evolutionary path that goes beyond the 3.0 paradigm, crosses that of Industry 4.0, to attain a Society 5.0 concept. These are the contents of this article that, starting from the examination of the term "token", very often confused in its own meaning, wants to offer the reader a scenario vision, supported by an analysis of the fundamental principles."

US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair is taking aim at platforms that offer crypto tokens or other products that are priced off of the value of securities and operate like derivatives. "It doesn't matter whether it's a stock token, a stable value token backed by securities, or any other virtual product that provides synthetic exposure to underlying securities. These platforms - whether in the decentralized or centralized finance space - are implicated by the securities laws and must work within our securities regime. If these products are security-based swaps [all of the rules that apply to such swaps,] such as trade reporting rules, will apply to them. Any offer or sale to retail participants must be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and effected on a national securities exchange."

Working with wallet provider Blockchain and precious medal trader MKS (Switzerland) SA, Coinshares announced a gold-backed network for trading tokens representing digitized physical gold. The network launches with more than $20 million in gold held in a Swiss vault to back up its tokens. Each DGLD token is backed by 1/10th troy ounce.

FTX launched its Coinbase Pre-IPO tokens (CBSE) on December 22 as part of its Tokenized Stocks product line. Coinbase is currently valued at $8 billion, although the company itself has no actual shares on the market yet. The CBSE tokens will convert to the equivalent share prices at the end of Coinbase's first day of public trading (market capitalization divided by the total number of shares). https://ftx.com/equities_terms/KID_CBSE.pdf

Crypto exchange FTX has listed quarterly futures on tokenized stocks, offering up to 100x leverage. FTX partnered with German custody services firm CM-Equity, and Swiss tokenization solutions provider Digital Assets, for the new 24/7 offering. The underlying tokens, which allow traders to buy fractions of shares, are redeemable for the underlying stocks. As with FTX's other products, its equity trading offering won't be available in the United States.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Finance, successfully completed Project Eden proof of concept (PoC) testing in June 2023. It tested the atomic settlement of tokenized government bonds using digital payment tokens on a blockchain-based platform. A smart contract acted as an intermediary between the issuer and the investors, ensuring the verification of valid and approved tokens, preventing inconsistencies or incomplete transfers, and guaranteeing the accurate transfer of tokens.

By allowing ownership rights to be digitally represented, asset tokenization enables fractional ownership and allows for assets such as real estate, a work of art and a vintage car, to be divided into tokens representing smaller ownership stakes. This unlocks access to illiquid assets, allows more people to participate in investments previously limited to those with high net worth and lowers thus the barrier to entry. Tokenization can also greatly reduce the time and resources required to buy and sell assets. By using blockchain technology and smart contracts, this technology cuts down on paperwork and processing time, eliminates the need for many traditional intermediaries, and decreases operating costs due to disintermediation.