The register is the product; the token is how it is transferred
An issuer’s obligation is to know who holds the instrument and what each holder is entitled to, at any moment a regulator or a court asks. A tokenized instrument does not remove that obligation — it distributes the record and adds a reconciliation. Where the on-chain register and the transfer agent disagree, the offering documents decide, and the architecture has to make that outcome reachable.
Three engagements we are asked for
Issuance with transfer restriction
Jurisdiction, accreditation and lock-up rules implemented as code, versioned as policy, and testable before the offering opens.
Needs: counsel-approved restriction rules · a versioning policy · a test issuance
Register and transfer-agent reconciliation
A daily close between the on-chain register and the agent’s books, with a tolerance and a named owner for breaks.
Needs: an agreed authoritative source · a break tolerance · an escalation threshold
Redemption against a reserve
Where the instrument is redeemable, the custody boundary and the reconciliation model are one design, not two workstreams.
Needs: a custodial attestation · a reserve reporting cadence · a rehearsed redemption
What we will tell you not to do
Published because it is the fastest way to find out whether we are the right firm for this — and because it is what we say in the room.
Do not tokenize before the legal structure is settled
The instrument is defined by its documents. Building the transfer layer first means rebuilding it when counsel finishes.
Do not promise instant redemption against an illiquid reserve
The redemption path has to match the reserve’s real liquidity. This is the failure that ends programmes, not a contract bug.
Do not publish a holder register that discloses holders
Pseudonymity is not privacy at institutional sizes. Design the disclosure boundary deliberately.
Evidence
- Settlement infrastructure for a gold-backed monetary systempermission pending
No client is named without fresh written permission. Entries above are the record as it stands, including the ones we cannot yet name.
Structuring, placement and OTC execution sit with GDA Group.
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Tell us which of the three above is closest, and what has to be true for it to work in your control environment.