Chapter 9. Tokens and the Token SDK
In this chapter, we’ll explore what tokens are and their history in the blockchain world and build the conceptual framework around what tokens can offer us. We’ll evaluate some of the token strategies that can be employed, like asset tokenization and stablecoins. We’ll also look at enterprise tokens, which are used between enterprises or in a business-to-business fashion, and how they’re just a way for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to be reconciled in the permissioned world. This chapter covers the critical concepts we need to think about before we jump into developing an application that makes use of tokens. Make no mistake: building large-scale enterprise token systems is not a trivial task because it’s intertwined with many other disciplines, like economics, game theory, user behavior, token-use strategies like redemption policies, know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, and more.
In this chapter, we’ll look at an iterative development of a simple token framework and learn about some of the design issues it faces, solving them and then arriving at a framework that will be strikingly and intentionally similar to the Token SDK. The Token SDK is Corda’s open source token framework, and we’ll take a peek at its internals. Because the Token SDK is written in Kotlin, this is the only chapter that will have code snippets in Kotlin.1
What Are Tokens?
Defined crudely and broadly, a token is a thing that ...
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