Understanding Token Taxonomies: How to choose your first or next token
- Victor Madueno
- Nov 12, 2025
- 2 min read
Launching a token and don't know in which category it falls under?
In the complex ecosystem of digital assets, it is essential to understand how each token contributes to transforming finance, payments and enterprise systems, as not all tokens function the same way. It is crucial for organizations exploring or launching digital asset projects to classify and evaluate different types of tokens, as well as their implications for regulation, technology and design.
We are witnessing the reinvention of the financial system as we know it. Tokenization was once the holy grail of this new plumbing, but it was not ready technically, and adoption didn't peak up as expected. Complex UX/UI, constant amplification of scams and fraud within the media industry, and a long list of barriers which delayed the entry of both private and retail capital into this new financial vehicle.
What you will get within this paper:
The importance of token classification
How precise token definitions enhance compliance, consumer protection and interoperability within the digital asset ecosystem
The four dimensions of token classification based on FTI's taxonomy of functional usage (e.g., utility, security, debt tokens)
Economic value or scarcity (e.g., real-world assets, carbon credits, derivatives)
Technical construction (e.g., fungible tokens, NFTs, stablecoins)
Regulatory rights and obligations (e.g., governance, voting, or contribution tokens).
In today's new financial, social and economic stage we are in, tokenization and specifically real-world asset (RWA) tokenization present a complete transformation of the foundations in which the financial pipes are organized, interconnected, operated and reported. A tokenized economy represents an opportunity to fully control the ownership of the assets, beyond hierarchical structures of power and liquidity. Democratizing the access to asset classes that once were only available to UHNWI, institutions or capital firms.
Why it matters:
Tokenization is revolutionizing capital markets, payments, and ownership models however, the absence of a unified taxonomy causes confusion, regulatory challenges, and integration issues. Clarity on the classification of your token will help you avoid potential future pitfalls.
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