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Token

Last updated 17 October 2026Last verified 17 October 2026

What is a crypto token?

A digital asset issued on a blockchain. Tokens can represent ownership, governance rights, utility, claims on underlying assets, or nothing at all. All tokens carry issuer risk; few have the legal protections of regulated securities. The word describes a technical structure, not a legal classification: the same token can be a security in one jurisdiction and a commodity in another.

TradFi equivalentAn instrument without the legal wrapper. It can carry the economics of equity, a claim or a receipt, while the rights a shareholder or a noteholder would rely on are frequently absent.