Tokenizing an asset is the easy part. The token is a claim, and a claim is only worth the obligation behind it. Here is the checklist I actually care about when I review one.
Binding: who guarantees 1 token = 1 unit of the asset, over time? A custodian, an SPV, a legal wrapper — not the contract.
Redemption: burn the token, release the asset. Who is obligated to deliver, and what happens on a default or a transfer freeze? This is the path most designs leave thin.
Proof-of-reserve: verifiable and signed on a schedule, not a press release.
Permissioned transfer for regulated assets: allowlists, identity, restrictions encoded in the token itself, not a free-floating bearer instrument.
The smart contract is the visible tip. The system is the integration layer around it: watch on-chain events, reconcile each token against the off-chain record, track redemptions, write it where auditors can read it. Ordinary integration engineering, and where the months go.
Full version: https://www.omarbaruzzo.it/en/blog/tokenizzare-non-e-possedere
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