We have already talked about tokenization in the past, now is the time to take up this concept and expand it in terms of what is the new trend represented by DeFi; having said that we go in order and take up the whole thread of the subject from the beginning, so as to make this article understandable even for those who do not have that minimum of basic smearing to really understand what we are talking about. Commonly we are used to talking about cryptocurrencies in an indistinct manner, however it is advisable to distinguish between real cryptocurrencies and tokens; while crypto are native coins linked to a blockchain platform, tokens are coins that do not have their own chain of blocks, neither a network nor a platform that allows them to function but exploit those of other projects. One of the best examples, in this sense, is represented by ethereum, with its native ETH currency whose network, however, processes the transactions of hundreds of other currencies (the tokens in fact) normally realized with ERC20 protocol. When we talk about tokens, then, let's talk about projects that take advantage of the potential of blockchain technology without having to worry about network security, platform development and updating, all of which are of concern to the platform community on which those tokens turn. Having said this we talk about tokenization when the property rights of an asset or an asset are divided between several subjects and regulated according to the possession of the token itself; the easiest example, simplifying a little, that we could do is that of a joint-stock company, in which precisely the property is divided among the shareholders at different rates based on the number of shares held.

With tokens it is the exact same thing, so we can, for example, take ownership of a property worth 100 thousand euros, divide it into 100 thousand tokens worth € 1 each, and then sell those tokens on the market as a form of investment; if then that property is, for example, rented here is that the proceeds of the rents is divided among all the owners of the tokens, in proportion to the number of coins possessed. At this point, including what is meant by tokenization, it becomes easy to understand how DeFi platforms allow and simplify this type of process; so let's imagine a platform on which property owners can attach property rights to a token and then resell those same tokens to investors. One of the best examples concerns investments in large hotels and resorts, so a group of investors who own the land and want to finance the construction of a large hotel tokenise 70% of the property, sell tokens to investors and with that money builds the hotel; the profits generated annually are then distributed, 30% goes to the initial owners and the remaining 70% is distributed, in proportion to the number of tokens owned, among all the other investors. If an operation of this type would have been unthinkable individually due to the numerous compliance rules that would be necessary to take, thanks to the DeFi platforms all the burdens relating to the various legal obligations are carried out by the platform and those who wish to do such operations can do so in a simple way without worrying about legal obligations. Now that we have begun to understand what is meant by tokenization and how the DeFi platforms simplify this process, it also becomes easy to understand how this type of structure can be potentially applied to anything; one of the areas that could potentially benefit most from DeFi and tokenization is, for example, that of art, so museums could tokenise the ownership of works of art and derive resources to invest. Obviously the museums would retain ownership of 51% of the tokens and sell the remaining 49%; to each token, then, a certified copy of the work itself could be hooked up, thus also enhancing this type of market.

The copy, consequently, would have a value on the art market because a copy of the property right related to the original work would be attached to that copy; another field of application, to continue making examples, could be the sporting one, in this case one could tokenize the ownership of a company (following the example of the popular shareholding of companies like Barcelona football) or the footballers' cards . Basically, therefore, the DeFi associated with tokenization revolutionizes the concept of property, allowing a substantial collectivization of property rights and allowing even small savers to make investments (for example in the real estate sector) that were previously out of their reach.