Given that you’ll come across the word a lot while researching cryptocurrencies, it’s useful to understand some common connotations. But besides the big-picture definitions in the section above, there are also some categories of cryptoassets that actually have “token” in their name. Here are a few examples of those:

• DeFi tokens A new world of cryptocurrency-based protocols that aim to reproduce traditional financial-system functions (lending and saving, insurance, trading) has emerged in recent years. These protocols issue tokens that perform a wide variety of functions but can also be traded or held like any other cryptocurrency.

• Governance tokens These are specialized DeFi tokens that give holders a say in the future of a protocol or app, which (being decentralized) don’t have boards of directors or any other central authority. The popular savings protocol Compound, for example, issues all users a token called COMP. This token gives holders a vote in how Compound is upgraded. The more COMP tokens you have, the more votes you get.

• Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)  NFTs represent ownership rights to a unique digital or real-world asset. They can be used to make it more difficult for digital creations to be copied and shared (an issue anyone who has ever visited a Torrent site full of the latest movies and video games understands). They’ve also been used to issue a limited number of digital artworks or sell unique virtual assets like rare items in a video game. 

• Security tokens Security tokens are a new class of assets that aim to be the crypto equivalent of traditional securities like stocks and bonds. Their main use case is to sell shares in a company (very much like the shares or fractional shares sold via conventional markets) or other enterprises (for instance, real estate) without the need for a broker. Major companies and startups have been reported to be investigating security tokens as a potential alternative to other methods of fundraising.