Critical considerations when creating a token

There are several reasons for wanting to create a token. Firstly, it is a fun exercise to demystify the technology and understand at a deeper level how tokens work. The second, more serious, reason is to participate in this token economy and provide added value to either existing or new products and services.

Whatever the reason, the first step is to understand the purpose and function of your token. The next step is to decide if an existing token can be used or if a custom token is required. The final step is then to ask if a blockchain or distributed ledger is required. Following on from the concepts of the thought experiments earlier, let's go through the steps of how a token would be created.

Step one – the purpose of the token

As highlighted earlier, tokens can fall into three main categories: payment, utility, or security. Is the token designed as a form of payment? If yes, will an existing cryptocurrency or payment...