The Tokenization of Everything: Towards a Framework for Understanding the Potentials of Tokenized Assets

Abstract

By enabling a new way to digitize transactions, distributed ledger technology allows to fundamentally change how value is digitally issued, transferred, and stored. Accordingly, «tokenization» refers to the concept of creating a singular identifier on a distributed ledger in terms of a token that may represent anything from financial assets, goods, to other valuable resources. Where tokenization may disrupt our economic system leading to more efficiency or democracy, it is required to gain insights and facilitate the development of use cases associated with this concept. To illustrate how firms can apply tokenization to innovate their businesses, we propose a framework of different token properties, drivers, and barriers for adoption based on literature and expert interviews and present eight archetypical cases derived from an analysis of 129 ventures. This work provides strategic guidance in a token economy and a starting point for future research of viable applications.