Draft:Digital Token Identifier

A Digital Token Identifier (DTI) is a global identification system for digital tokens and is defined by the International Organisation for Standardization’s ISO 241651, published in September 2021.

A DTI comprises:

• a code, which is a random, unique combination of nine alphanumeric characters allocated to a digital token, such as X9J9K872S for the Ethereum native digital token, and

• a record of data relevant to that token (the reference data) which sits behind the code and is held within the DTI Registry. The reference data provides information about the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) on which the token is deployed, as well as token technical attributes (such as address, name(s) and any external identifiers).

The purpose of a DTI

The increasing adoption of distributed ledger technology in the traditional financial sector and the rapid growth of the decentralised crypto ecosystem have led to heightened demand by public authorities and market participants for identifying digital tokens within these networks, where they are issued, traded, settled, or stored.

DTIs are needed to provide a standardised and consistent way of identifying and referencing digital tokens across different platforms, systems, and jurisdictions.

Who can use the DTI Registry and request DTI allocations?

The DTI Registry and application process is open to all. Users include:

• Security token market participants to recognise, safekeep, track, and analyse DLT financial instruments.

• Regulators and central banks for enhanced market oversight, insights on at-risk instruments and trades, market abuse and Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing supervision.
• Crypto-asset (cryptocurrency) market participants for greater transparency on token tracking and verification.

Benefits of Using DTIs

Key benefits include:

• Transparency: Identification of the digital token, its location on a public or private blockchain, and link to underlying assets, if relevant.
• Interoperability: Standardised method to distinguish between different ledgers and tokens.

• Uniqueness: DTI is based on the digital token’s unique and verifiable origins on the distributed ledger data structure.
• Consistency: Ability to distinguish original, legitimate tokens from newly created digital tokens following fork events.
• Scalability: A unified token identifier method supports scalability and resilience to the currently fragmented crypto-asset industry.

Issuers of DTI

The Digital Token Identifier Foundation (DTIF) provides the golden source reference data for the unique identification of digital tokens based on ISO’s new standard for digital assets, ISO 24165. It is a non-profit division of Etrading Software, a financial technology firm with a mission of solving market-wide problems by building market infrastructures for the new digital economy.

DTIF's Role

As Registration Authority (RA) for the ISO 24165 standard, the DTIF’s mission is to provide the golden source reference data for the unique identification of digital tokens.

DTIF issues and maintains DTIs on a non-profit, cost-recovery model, to increase transparency in the digital asset space through the creation of a core reference data set based on open data principles and available as a public good.

Structure of a DTI Code

The DTI code consists of nine alphanumeric characters with the following structure:

The first eight characters are the base number. The base number is eight characters in length but excludes vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and the letter Y (zero shall is never a first character). The base number is randomly generated and semantically meaningless (in cases where a randomly generated identifier inadvertently appears to be semantically meaningful, DTIF would discard it). The final character is the check character.

Can a DTI be changed or modified once assigned?

The string of nine alphanumeric characters representing a DTI cannot be changed, modified or re-used once assigned. However, it is possible to request an amendment for other reference data details for an existing record in the registry.

ISO 24165

ISO (the International Organisation for Standardisation) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies) and with the rise in popularity of peer-to-peer payment systems relying less on centralised authorities, and instead on aspects of cryptography, decentralised processing, and distributed network for the maintenance of a shared record of transaction activity, the need to identify the digital tokens issues, traded, transacted, or stored on these networks has grown. Hence, ISO-24165 was issued which is being followed by the DTIF.

What is the relationship between DTI and other ISO identifiers?

The DTI complement other identifiers such as the ISO 6166 International Securities Identification Number (ISIN), ISO 4914 Unique Product Identifier (UPI) and ISO 17442 Legal Entity Identifier (LEI).

The graph in the DTIF FAQs page illustrates the ISO 24165 standard’s relationship with other relevant ISO standards.

ISIN vs DTI

An International Security Identifier Number (ISIN) is a recognised standard for identifying traditional securities, including shares, bonds, options, and other financial instruments. A Digital Token Identifier (DTI) is a recognised standard to identify digital tokens that exist on a distributed ledger.

Within traditional financial markets, ISIN and Market Identifier Code (MIC) codes identify the what and where of a transaction respectively, facilitating regulators’ ability to detect and investigate market abuse. In the crypto-asset market, a digital asset may be issued on multiple DLTs and traded or settled on multiple DLT market infrastructures. The identifiers used in traditional markets do not alone enable public authorities to identify the specific DLT on which a digital asset was issued, traded or settled. However, the DTI, as an identifier designed to cater to the specific features of the crypto-asset market, can identify the specific DLT on which a token was issued or where a transaction took place: it provides the link between the digital asset and the DLT.

For example, an ISIN would be allocated to a traditional bond. A DTI could be allocated if the bond was tokenised and represented as a token on a distributed ledger, or if the bond was natively issued on a distributed ledger. The ISIN provides a unique reference to the security, while a DTI provides a unique reference to the security token.

Additionally, DTIs could be allocated to non-financial instrument tokens such as crypto-assets or asset-referenced tokens (commonly referred to as stablecoins).

Example: ISIN-DTI Issuance – EIB Bond

In April 2021, EIB issued a digital bond on a public chain (link to press release). DTIF issued DTI WGHBLG826 for this bond, bringing together the following elements:

• Asset identifier: FR0014003521
• DLT DTI: X9J9K872S (Ethereum)

DTIF machine-readable reference data allows market participants and regulators to:

• Map digital tokens to the Asset
• Map digital tokens to the DLT