Getting Started: Tokenizing Real‑World Assets

1.1 Define scope, eligibility, and issuance strategy

Tokenization works best when you start with a clear scope. Identify the asset class (for example, income‑producing real estate, short‑term receivables, carbon credits, or treasury bills), the legal owner, and the rights your token will represent (claim on cash flows, exposure to price, or governance over operational decisions). Determine whether the instrument will be structured as equity, debt, or a utility‑style access right, and align that structure with the regulatory posture of your jurisdiction. Create an issuance memo that answers: who is the issuer, who are the beneficiaries, what are the sources and uses of funds, how will redemptions and distributions work, and what is the risk disclosure you will provide to purchasers. At this stage, most successful teams also establish an operational map—listing custodians, trustees, oracles, price feeds, banking rails, auditors, and transfer agents—and document responsibilities, escalation paths, and SLAs. Finally, choose a chain strategy (single chain or multi‑chain) and decide whether tokens will be fully on‑chain native or bridged wrappers.

• Asset scope: real estate, commodities, credit, or receivables.
• Instrument type: equity, debt, or utility access.
• Rights modeled: cash‑flows, price exposure, or governance.
• Ops map: custody, oracle feeds, banks, auditors, transfer agents.

1.2 Compliance and identity: KYC/KYB, accreditation, and transfer rules

Before minting the first token, design the identity and compliance flow. With Asentum’s integrations, you can enable KYC/KYB for individuals and entities, collect accreditation proofs where required, and issue reusable credentials that your investor can present across offerings. Map your transfer restrictions—such as jurisdictional whitelists, lock‑up periods, maximum investor counts, or per‑investor position limits—into policy objects enforced by the token contract. Consider whether your market requires suitability checks (knowledge tests, risk acknowledgment) and archiving of signed disclosures. For secondary markets, define what happens when an asset holder sells to a new buyer: which checks must repeat, who pays the fees, and how ownership records and cap tables update. Treat compliance as a product surface; good UX here dramatically reduces friction for capital formation.

1.3 Technical setup: custody, pricing, oracles, and minting

Connect wallets for the issuer team using hardware‑backed signers and multisig policies. If the underlying asset requires third‑party custodianship (for example, warehouse receipts or fiat collateral), integrate custody attestations via oracles to synchronize on‑chain supply with off‑chain inventory. Configure pricing feeds for NAV calculation or reference rates, and decide on decimal precision, supply caps, and rebalancing logic. Using Asentum’s ARC37 contracts, deploy your token with modules for pausing, role‑based permissions, distribution hooks, and allow‑listed transfers. Establish an issuance playbook that covers how you’ll stage mints (seed, private, public), where proceeds settle, and how you’ll reconcile chain activity with accounting ledgers. Run a dry‑run in a testnet environment and record every step as an SOP so that future launches are one‑click repeatable.

• Keys & signers: HSM, multisig, and break‑glass procedures.
• Oracle wiring: custody proofs, prices, NAV.
• ARC37 modules: pause, roles, distributions, allow‑lists.

1.4 Operations: distributions, reporting, and lifecycle management

After launch, the day‑two experience determines whether your token earns trust. Configure automated cash‑flow distributions (dividends, coupons, revenue shares) with batched or streaming payouts. Publish a transparent reporting cadence—monthly NAV, collateral proofs, custody statements, and auditor attestations—and make these artifacts accessible in‑app via a permanent, verifiable store. Plan for corporate actions: supply adjustments, redemptions, buybacks, or upgrades to the token logic. Build incident playbooks for oracle failures, data discrepancies, or halted markets, and establish thresholds for human review. Finally, define a deprecation path should the strategy wind down, including investor communications, settlement procedures, and final audits. Well‑run operations are your moat; they convert first‑time buyers into long‑term participants.

See also: Platform Tour · Trading Guide · Get Started with $ASX