The words behind digital issuance.

A security, such as a bond or a note, whose register is kept on a distributed ledger as tokens. Also called a tokenized security.

Recording a security or an asset as tokens on a distributed ledger, so it can be issued, transferred and registered digitally, with its rules enforced on every transfer.

Assets that exist outside the blockchain, such as real estate, receivables or private credit, brought on-chain through a legal structure that issues digital securities.

A company set up for a single transaction. It holds the asset or the financing and issues the securities, keeping them separate from the sponsor’s other business.

The legal entity that issues the securities and is responsible for them towards investors. In an Unlayer structuring engagement, this is the dedicated SPV.

The record of who holds how many units of a security. For a digital security it is kept on a distributed ledger and updates with every transfer.

A settlement method in which the security is delivered only if payment is made, and payment is made only if the security is delivered.

An offering of securities to a limited group of investors, such as professional investors, instead of a public offer to everyone.

An investor-facing app run by a provider but branded as yours, on your domain: onboarding, compliance checks, payments and holdings under your name.

Know your customer and anti-money-laundering checks: verifying an investor’s identity and screening them against sanctions and risk lists before they can invest.

An investor that meets the criteria of Annex II of MiFID II (Directive 2014/65/EU): banks, investment firms, insurers, large companies, or individuals who ask to be treated as professional and pass its size and experience tests.

Any investor who is not a professional investor. Retail investors get additional protections, such as appropriateness checks, before they can invest.

A firm authorised under Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 to offer crowdfunding services, including to retail investors, with a single licence valid across the EU. Unlayer’s services to retail investors are subject to obtaining this authorisation; until then, offerings are open to professional investors only.

An open Ethereum standard for permissioned security tokens. Transfers only succeed between verified identities that meet the token’s compliance rules, checked on-chain every time.

The on-chain identity system used with ERC-3643. Each investor has an identity contract holding claims, such as a passed KYC check or a jurisdiction, signed by trusted issuers.

Holding securities in a wallet whose keys the investor controls, rather than through an intermediary that holds them.

A token designed to hold a stable value against a currency such as the euro, used to pay on-chain. In the EU, stablecoins are regulated under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).

A digital identity app that every EU Member State must offer its citizens under the European Digital Identity Regulation, used to prove identity and share verified attributes online.