Digital asset education
Digital Transition Center
How traditional assets could be represented in digital financial infrastructure. Tokenization does not guarantee more liquidity, ownership rights, returns, or lower costs. This app never converts, trades, or holds assets.
Cash → Regulated payment stablecoin or bank digital payments
- Legal ownership
- Claim on issuer's reserves (stablecoin) or bank deposit
- Issuer
- Licensed stablecoin issuer or bank
- Custodian
- You (self-custody wallet) or exchange/bank
- Redemption
- Issuer redemption terms; may have minimums and fees
- Tax considerations
- Generally no gain at $1, but each disposition is a property transaction to track
- Regulatory status
- GENIUS Act framework; OCC/state oversight
- Liquidity
- High during normal markets; can freeze in stress
- Risks
- Depeg, issuer, exchange, and key-loss risk. Not FDIC insured.
- Fees
- Verify issuer conversion, custody, network, sale and redemption charges. No universal fee is assumed.
Treasury securities → Tokenized Treasury fund interest
- Legal ownership
- Shares/units in a fund that holds Treasuries
- Issuer
- Registered fund sponsor
- Custodian
- Fund's custodian bank + token transfer agent
- Redemption
- Fund redemption windows; may be limited to approved holders
- Tax considerations
- Fund distributions taxed as income; sale of tokens may create gains/losses
- Regulatory status
- Securities laws (SEC)
- Liquidity
- Depends on platform; not guaranteed better than TreasuryDirect
- Risks
- Platform, smart-contract, and issuer risk on top of rate risk.
- Fees
- Verify issuer conversion, custody, network, sale and redemption charges. No universal fee is assumed.
Traditional bonds → Tokenized security
- Legal ownership
- Legally issued security recorded on-chain
- Issuer
- Bond issuer via registered platform
- Custodian
- Qualified custodian or transfer agent
- Redemption
- Bond terms; secondary market on approved venues
- Tax considerations
- Same as the underlying bond, plus tracking each token transfer
- Regulatory status
- Securities laws (SEC/FINRA)
- Liquidity
- Often thinner than traditional markets
- Risks
- Synthetic tokens that only track prices give no ownership rights.
- Fees
- Verify issuer conversion, custody, network, sale and redemption charges. No universal fee is assumed.
Physical gold → Gold-backed token
- Legal ownership
- Claim on allocated or unallocated vaulted gold
- Issuer
- Token issuer / trust company
- Custodian
- Vault operator (check audits)
- Redemption
- Physical delivery may require large minimums and fees
- Tax considerations
- Gold may be taxed as a collectible; tokens as property
- Regulatory status
- Varies; check state trust and commodity rules
- Liquidity
- Exchange-dependent
- Risks
- Audit, vault, issuer, and redemption risk.
- Fees
- Verify issuer conversion, custody, network, sale and redemption charges. No universal fee is assumed.
Brokerage holdings → Digital custody arrangement
- Legal ownership
- Depends entirely on the custody agreement
- Issuer
- N/A
- Custodian
- Qualified custodian, exchange, or self
- Redemption
- Per custody terms
- Tax considerations
- Moving assets is not a sale, but selling to convert is taxable
- Regulatory status
- SEC custody rules; state money-transmitter laws
- Liquidity
- Varies
- Risks
- Custodian insolvency, hacks, lost keys.
- Fees
- Verify issuer conversion, custody, network, sale and redemption charges. No universal fee is assumed.
Regulatory intelligence
Check publication and effective dates in the official documents. This page does not assert that every framework is fully implemented or applies to every issuer.
- GENIUS Act · Congress.gov · Public law signed July 18, 2025; implementation dates depend on the provisions and regulations.
- Digital asset tax guidance · IRS · Publication date varies; consult the current official page.
- Current securities notices · SEC · Individual releases carry their own publication dates.
For a current source-cited explanation, open AI Research.
Record any real conversion step — sale, fees, taxes, acquisition — in your Asset Transition Ledger. Check today's stablecoin pegs on Live Markets.