Who holds tokenized assets and how, key management, delivery versus payment, the options for the cash leg, and the operational work that keeps ledger and books in line.
Who holds what
- Investors can hold tokens in their own wallet or through a custodian.
- Custodians of tokenized securities fall under custody and investor-protection rules, including segregation of client assets.
- Check what happens to the tokens if the custodian fails.
Keys and operations
- Institutional custody splits control of keys, with multi-signature or multi-party computation.
- Key creation, backup and recovery are formal, audited processes.
- Lost keys need a legal and technical recovery path, agreed in advance.
Delivery versus payment
- The goal: asset and cash move at the same time, so neither side carries settlement risk.
- That needs a cash token on the same ledger, or a reliable link between ledgers.
- Without it, the cash leg still settles the old way.
The cash leg
- Options: stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits or central bank money.
- The Swiss National Bank's Project Helvetia has tested settling tokenized assets in wholesale central bank money.
- Each option carries different credit and legal risk.
Keeping ledger and books in line
- Reconcile on-chain holdings with the register and the accounts every day.
- Rehearse corporate actions and incidents before they happen.
- Log every admin action on the token.
Key takeaways
- Know who holds the keys and what happens if they fail.
- Delivery versus payment needs a cash leg on-chain.
- Reconciliation is where tokenized assets are won or lost operationally.
Sources
Educational content only, not legal, tax or investment advice. Based on EU and Swiss rules as of September 2026. Check the official texts before relying on anything here.