通讯周刊
数字化证券概论及其优势
摘要：数字化证券指“所有类别资产（涵盖了投资合同，公司股份，票据的一部分，债务抵押乃至细分权益等）”中所有权权益的数字化表示。
Authors: Zhang Yinuo, Zhang Peng
数字化证券指“所有类别资产（涵盖了投资合同，公司股份，票据的一部分，债务抵押乃至细分权益等）”中所有权权益的数字化表示。任何使用区块链技术发行或交易的经电子注册的、可转让的债务、股权或资产基本上都可以被视作为数字化证券。
Digital securities share the same legal constructs as traditional securities. By virtue of being on the blockchain, they are able to be programmed with features that traditional securities are not. This can mean anything from automatic payments to transparent/immutable ownership records.
尽管数字证券具有与传统证券相同的法律结构，但区块链技术的应用使其能够按照传统证券所没有的特点进行设计，于是自动支付、透明化/不可变更的所有权记录便得以实现。
The circulation of digital securities (backed by blockchain technology) increases trade efficiency and reduces transaction costs through a paperless process, rapid settlement, automated verification, and real-time, transparent ownership recording.
数字化证券的流通（基于区块链技术）因采用了全流程无纸化操作、快速结算、自动确权及实时透明的所有权记录，从而在提升交易效率的同时降低了交易成本。
For example, the adoption of digital securities could reduce administration costs around ownership reconciliation. The process of reconciling the capitalization table when startups are acquired is costly. However, when all the ownerships are tokenized and contractual features are baked into securities, cap tables could be reconciled in real time by code.
例如，采用数字化证券能降低因所有权调整而产生的管理成本。当初创企业被收购时，资产表的调整过程往往耗资不菲。而当所有权实现数字化之后，合约特征即会被嵌入到数字化证券之中，市值表便可通过代码进行实时核对。
Currently, the capital market is seriously inefficient, with high barriers between venture capital and investors. Millions of investors around the world are deprived of opportunities for fair investment and trading, and small companies lack efficient financing channels. In addition, due to the centralized nature of the existing financial system, it is prone to transaction loopholes and illegal operations, and there is a lack of new asset classes globally under the regulatory framework. Security tokenization and the decentralized ledger will break through the geographical boundaries of the regulated market, achieve a higher level of liquidity, make investment/fundraising more efficient, and involve more democratic participation.
当下，风险资本与投资者之间的高壁垒导致了资本市场的效率极为低下。全球各地数以百万计的投资者们无法进行公平投资和公平贸易，而小规模公司则缺乏有效的融资渠道。此外，现行经济体系的集中式特性容易引发交易漏洞和非法操作，而现行监管框架则会导致全球新资产类别的缺失。数字化证券和去中心化账本的采用将打破常规市场中的地理壁垒，提升流动性，提高投融资效率并加强民主参与度。
Fractional ownership is a “percentage ownership in an asset. Fractional ownership shares in the asset are sold to individual shareholders who share the benefits of the asset such as usage rights, income sharing, priority access, and reduced rates.” As the definition of digital securities says, it covers all types of assets which includes any type of alternative assets, such as real estate, venture capital, private equity, real assets and hedge funds. Unlike the stock market, which is only open during business hours and does not allow trading of indivisible assets (such as real estate), the biggest benefit of tokenized securities should be the ability to trade instantly and without permission. Because of the divisibility of the security token and its ability to be traded at all times, these problems in the stock market will no longer exist. For the first time, a typical retail investor can own 0.01% of a Picasso work or a building, and can sell this 0.01% to others. Due to the unconventional nature and questionable liquidity of some alternative assets, valuing an investor’s holdings can be difficult.
部分所有权指“对某一资产的部分所有权。” 资产的所有权股份按照不同的份额出售给个人股东，他们共同分享资产的收益（含使用权、收入共享、优先使用权和降低的利率等）。诚如数字化证券的定义所言，它涵盖了所有类型的资产及其替代资产，如房地产、风险资本、私募股权、不动产和对冲基金等。与只在营业时间开放、不允许交易不可分割的资产(如房地产)的传统股票市场不同，数字化证券的最大优势便是可在非传统营业时间内进行即时交易。数字证券的多样性及其随时交易的特性解决了传统市场的痛点问题。于是有史以来，典型的散户投资者也能拥有一件毕加索(Picasso)作品或一栋建筑0.01%的股份，并可以把这0.01%的股份出售给其他人。但是由于一些另类资产具有非传统特性及可疑流动性，评估投资者持有的资产可能会变得比较困难。
Real estate is a classical and principal representative for the value of fractional ownership. Digital securities give investors the opportunity to own much less assets than in the traditional world, because the ownership of real estate assets can be partitioned in a simple, fast and safe way. Tal Elyashiv cited the example of AspenCoin tokenized real estate in his article Digital Securities — the future of Capital Markets?. The first tokenized real estate offering, issued by AspenCoin in October 2018, offered clients the opportunity to hold indirect fractional ownership shares in the iconic St. Regis Aspen resort, in Aspen Colorado.
房地产是部分所有权价值的经典的、主要的代表。数字证券使得房地产资产的所有权可以以一种简单、快速和安全的方式进行分割，从而可以使投资者有机会拥有比传统证券少得多的资产份额。Tal Elyashiv在数字化证券 – 资本市场的未来？一文中以AspenCoin 数字化房地产证券项目为例。这是AspenCoin在2018年10月发行的首款数字化房地产证券，为客户提供了间接持有科罗拉多州阿斯彭地标性建筑圣瑞吉阿斯彭度假酒店部分股权的机会。
Programmability 可编程性
A key feature of digital securities is programmability. Elements of the contract environment, regulations and compliance can be baked into smart contracts. This feature facilitates the circulation of different types of assets and fiat. By allowing a third party to build Dapps (decentralized applications) on smart protocols, blockchain technology establishes a cross-platform, cross-market and cross-jurisdiction investment environment, as well as improves series of inefficiencies of traditional financial assets such as the complexities in KYC/AML processes and high costs from identity authentication.
可编程性是数字化证券的一大关键特性。合约环境、法规和合规性元素均可被整合到智能合约之中，这一特点促进了不同类型资产及法币的流通。区块链技术允许第三方创建基于智能合约的Dapp（去中心化应用从而构造出了一个跨平台、跨市场、跨司法管辖区的投资环境并提升了传统金融资产的交易效率（传统金融资产交易中KYC/AML流程复杂且个人身份验证成本高）。
When relevant regulations are coded into the smart protocol and compliance is automated, the non-compliant transaction won’t be executed. Smart protocols could regulate the parties between which transactions are allowed to take place, and the traders by whom tokens are allowed to be held.
当相关法规被编写进智能合约且能实现自动合规时，不合规定的交易便无法执行。智能合约能够对合乎交易要求的双方及合规代币持有人进行监管。
The liquidity of digital securities is achieved mainly through blockchain technology. Backed by distributed ledger technology, markets of tokenized securities offer the experience of 24/7 direct transfer of ownership, rapid settlement, and borderless transaction. The option to fractionalize Illiquid assets facilitates transactions among a wider range of buyers and sellers through eliminating frictions and reducing costs, thus relaxing restrictions on liquidity of more diversified assets. Finally, the programmability of digital contracts and automated compliance protocols allows transfers to take place directly without manually approving trades, which ultimately facilitates the unlocking of liquidity premiums in a majority of assets. “Tokenized funds would allow fund managers to invest in illiquid assets without fear of redemptions”, and investors can access liquidity in secondary markets.7
数字化证券流动性主要靠区块链技术实现。基于分布式账本技术的数字化证券市场能实现所有权全天候交易、迅速清算以及无国界交易。分化的非流动性资产操作则可以消除摩擦并降低成本，从而促进了更广范围内的买卖双方交易并放宽了对更多元化资产流动性的限制。此外，数字合约和自动合规协议的可编程性使得交易可以在无需人工批准的情况下直接进行，最终有助于解锁大多数资产中的流动性溢价。“数字化基金允许基金经理投资非流动性资产而无需担心赎回问题”，投资者们可以获得二级市场中的交易流动性。
For example, illiquidity is usually cited as the number one issue related to venture capital investments. Though some VC funds allow the secondary trading of LP interests, these secondary market trades take months to complete and usually involve a 25%-30% discount in value. However, by issuing LP interests as digital securities, LPs can find appropriate time to liquidate their investment on the secondary market, instead of holding it for 10-15 years.9
低流动性通常被认作是风险资本投资的首要问题。虽然一些风投基金允许有限合伙人权益的二级交易，但这些交易往往需要耗时数月才能完成，且常会有25%-30%的贴现率。然而，通过以数字证券的形式发行有限合伙人权益则能使有限合伙人在合适的时间从二级市场中变现其投资，而无需持有10-15年。
Security tokens offer higher liquidity in private securities such as real estate and early stage equity; asset classes that traditionally suffer from low liquidity.7
数字化证券提高了传统市场中流动性较低的私有证券（如房地产和早期股权）的流动性。
Interoperability is, broadly put, the ability of different systems to exchange and use information. In The Security Token Thesis, Stephen McKeon said, “The arc of technological evolution bends towards interoperability and interoperability is facilitated by standards. By definition, standards must have widespread buy-in to be effective.” We can conclude that, due to the function and characteristics of the distributed ledger and the foundation of current blockchain technology, blockchain can provide protocol standards upon which everyone can build. Therefore, this technology can be widely recognized by the public, thereby ultimately promoting interoperability among digital securities assets.
广义上的互操作性指不同体系中的信息交互及使用能力。Stephen McKeon在其数字化证券的要义（The Security Token Thesis）一文中表示：“技术进化的管理趋于互操作性，而标准的制定则促进了互操作性。显然，标准必须得到广泛的认可才能行之有效。” 12 我们可以断言：基于分布式账本功能特点和现有技术基础的区块链可以提供适合于每个人的协议标准。因此该项技术获得了公众的广泛认可并最终提升了数字化证券资产间的互操作性。
Stephen McKeon took the ERC-20 token standard that promotes interoperability within the Ethereum protocol as an example to prove the feasibility and prospect of asset interoperability. “Interoperability within the Ethereum protocol is facilitated by the ERC-20 token standard, which allows a wallet to hold any token that adheres to the standard. It makes distributions easy. For example, let’s say I own some ERC-20 tokens that represent ownership in an apartment building. Each month the lease payments from the tenants are converted to a ERC-20 stablecoin by the building manager and pushed to all the owners’ wallets in the corresponding proportions. Regardless of which ERC-20 wallet the owner uses, it can hold both the ownership and distribution tokens.”
Stephen McKeon以促进了以太坊协议互操作性的ERC-20为例来证明资产互操作性的可行性及其前景。“ERC-20允许钱包持有任何符合标准的代币从而提升了以太坊协议中的互操作性并简化了分派操作。假设我拥有一些代表一座公寓楼所有权的ERC-20代币。每个月，租客支付的租金都将由大楼经理转换为ERC-20稳定币，并按相应比例分派到所有业主的钱包内。所有者使用的任何一类ERC-20钱包都能拥有所有权并进行代币分派操作。”
As it stands, interoperability has two main uses when it comes to working with assets on different blockchains: “one is trading an asset on one chain for another asset on another chain; the other is representing an asset on several chains and moving instances from one chain to another” as Stefan Beyer puts it in his Medium article, Blockchain Interoperability- Moving Assets Across Chains. In order to achieve these interoperability scenarios faster, more securely and more consistently, there are currently three main interoperable blockchain frameworks: multi-chain solutions, chain relays and connecting external chains. With the improvement of blockchain technology, more frameworks will be set up in the future.
Stefan Beyer在其Medium文章区块链互操作性 – 实现链间流动（Blockchain Interoperability- Moving Assets Across Chains）一文中提出互操作性在处理不同区块链上的资产时的两大主要用途：“一是实现链间资产转换；二是代表多个链上的资产，并实现链间资产转移。” 为更快捷、更安全、更一致地实现这些互操作性场景，目前建立起了三大主要互操作性区块链框架，分别是：多链解决方案，侧链relay和外链连接。随着区块链技术的发展，更多框架将应运而生。
What are digital securities? 何为数字化证券？
Digital securities are digital representations of ownership interests in "all types of assets including investment contracts, shares of a corporation, a portion of a note, debt security, or even a fractionalized interest." Basically, any electronically registered and transferable debt, equity, or asset that issues or trades using blockchain technology is a security token.数字化证券指“所有类别资产（涵盖了投资合同，公司股份，票据的一部分，债务抵押乃至细分权益等）”中所有权权益的数字化表示。任何使用区块链技术发行或交易的经电子注册的、可转让的债务、股权或资产基本上都可以被视作为数字化证券。
Digital securities share the same legal constructs as traditional securities. By virtue of being on the blockchain, they are able to be programmed with features that traditional securities are not. This can mean anything from automatic payments to transparent/immutable ownership records.
尽管数字证券具有与传统证券相同的法律结构，但区块链技术的应用使其能够按照传统证券所没有的特点进行设计，于是自动支付、透明化/不可变更的所有权记录便得以实现。
Benefits of Digital Securities 数字化证券的优势
Increased Efficiency, Cost Reduction, and Barrier Removal 提升效率，节约成本，消除壁垒
The circulation of digital securities (backed by blockchain technology) increases trade efficiency and reduces transaction costs through a paperless process, rapid settlement, automated verification, and real-time, transparent ownership recording.
数字化证券的流通（基于区块链技术）因采用了全流程无纸化操作、快速结算、自动确权及实时透明的所有权记录，从而在提升交易效率的同时降低了交易成本。
For example, the adoption of digital securities could reduce administration costs around ownership reconciliation. The process of reconciling the capitalization table when startups are acquired is costly. However, when all the ownerships are tokenized and contractual features are baked into securities, cap tables could be reconciled in real time by code.
例如，采用数字化证券能降低因所有权调整而产生的管理成本。当初创企业被收购时，资产表的调整过程往往耗资不菲。而当所有权实现数字化之后，合约特征即会被嵌入到数字化证券之中，市值表便可通过代码进行实时核对。
Currently, the capital market is seriously inefficient, with high barriers between venture capital and investors. Millions of investors around the world are deprived of opportunities for fair investment and trading, and small companies lack efficient financing channels. In addition, due to the centralized nature of the existing financial system, it is prone to transaction loopholes and illegal operations, and there is a lack of new asset classes globally under the regulatory framework. Security tokenization and the decentralized ledger will break through the geographical boundaries of the regulated market, achieve a higher level of liquidity, make investment/fundraising more efficient, and involve more democratic participation.
当下，风险资本与投资者之间的高壁垒导致了资本市场的效率极为低下。全球各地数以百万计的投资者们无法进行公平投资和公平贸易，而小规模公司则缺乏有效的融资渠道。此外，现行经济体系的集中式特性容易引发交易漏洞和非法操作，而现行监管框架则会导致全球新资产类别的缺失。数字化证券和去中心化账本的采用将打破常规市场中的地理壁垒，提升流动性，提高投融资效率并加强民主参与度。
Fractional ownership 部分所有权
Fractional ownership is a “percentage ownership in an asset. Fractional ownership shares in the asset are sold to individual shareholders who share the benefits of the asset such as usage rights, income sharing, priority access, and reduced rates.” As the definition of digital securities says, it covers all types of assets which includes any type of alternative assets, such as real estate, venture capital, private equity, real assets and hedge funds. Unlike the stock market, which is only open during business hours and does not allow trading of indivisible assets (such as real estate), the biggest benefit of tokenized securities should be the ability to trade instantly and without permission. Because of the divisibility of the security token and its ability to be traded at all times, these problems in the stock market will no longer exist. For the first time, a typical retail investor can own 0.01% of a Picasso work or a building, and can sell this 0.01% to others. Due to the unconventional nature and questionable liquidity of some alternative assets, valuing an investor’s holdings can be difficult.
部分所有权指“对某一资产的部分所有权。” 资产的所有权股份按照不同的份额出售给个人股东，他们共同分享资产的收益（含使用权、收入共享、优先使用权和降低的利率等）。诚如数字化证券的定义所言，它涵盖了所有类型的资产及其替代资产，如房地产、风险资本、私募股权、不动产和对冲基金等。与只在营业时间开放、不允许交易不可分割的资产(如房地产)的传统股票市场不同，数字化证券的最大优势便是可在非传统营业时间内进行即时交易。数字证券的多样性及其随时交易的特性解决了传统市场的痛点问题。于是有史以来，典型的散户投资者也能拥有一件毕加索(Picasso)作品或一栋建筑0.01%的股份，并可以把这0.01%的股份出售给其他人。但是由于一些另类资产具有非传统特性及可疑流动性，评估投资者持有的资产可能会变得比较困难。
Real estate is a classical and principal representative for the value of fractional ownership. Digital securities give investors the opportunity to own much less assets than in the traditional world, because the ownership of real estate assets can be partitioned in a simple, fast and safe way. Tal Elyashiv cited the example of AspenCoin tokenized real estate in his article Digital Securities — the future of Capital Markets?. The first tokenized real estate offering, issued by AspenCoin in October 2018, offered clients the opportunity to hold indirect fractional ownership shares in the iconic St. Regis Aspen resort, in Aspen Colorado.
房地产是部分所有权价值的经典的、主要的代表。数字证券使得房地产资产的所有权可以以一种简单、快速和安全的方式进行分割，从而可以使投资者有机会拥有比传统证券少得多的资产份额。Tal Elyashiv在数字化证券 – 资本市场的未来？一文中以AspenCoin 数字化房地产证券项目为例。这是AspenCoin在2018年10月发行的首款数字化房地产证券，为客户提供了间接持有科罗拉多州阿斯彭地标性建筑圣瑞吉阿斯彭度假酒店部分股权的机会。
Programmability 可编程性
A key feature of digital securities is programmability. Elements of the contract environment, regulations and compliance can be baked into smart contracts. This feature facilitates the circulation of different types of assets and fiat. By allowing a third party to build Dapps (decentralized applications) on smart protocols, blockchain technology establishes a cross-platform, cross-market and cross-jurisdiction investment environment, as well as improves series of inefficiencies of traditional financial assets such as the complexities in KYC/AML processes and high costs from identity authentication.
可编程性是数字化证券的一大关键特性。合约环境、法规和合规性元素均可被整合到智能合约之中，这一特点促进了不同类型资产及法币的流通。区块链技术允许第三方创建基于智能合约的Dapp（去中心化应用从而构造出了一个跨平台、跨市场、跨司法管辖区的投资环境并提升了传统金融资产的交易效率（传统金融资产交易中KYC/AML流程复杂且个人身份验证成本高）。
When relevant regulations are coded into the smart protocol and compliance is automated, the non-compliant transaction won’t be executed. Smart protocols could regulate the parties between which transactions are allowed to take place, and the traders by whom tokens are allowed to be held.
当相关法规被编写进智能合约且能实现自动合规时，不合规定的交易便无法执行。智能合约能够对合乎交易要求的双方及合规代币持有人进行监管。
Increased Liquidity 增加流动性
The liquidity of digital securities is achieved mainly through blockchain technology. Backed by distributed ledger technology, markets of tokenized securities offer the experience of 24/7 direct transfer of ownership, rapid settlement, and borderless transaction. The option to fractionalize Illiquid assets facilitates transactions among a wider range of buyers and sellers through eliminating frictions and reducing costs, thus relaxing restrictions on liquidity of more diversified assets. Finally, the programmability of digital contracts and automated compliance protocols allows transfers to take place directly without manually approving trades, which ultimately facilitates the unlocking of liquidity premiums in a majority of assets. “Tokenized funds would allow fund managers to invest in illiquid assets without fear of redemptions”, and investors can access liquidity in secondary markets.7
数字化证券流动性主要靠区块链技术实现。基于分布式账本技术的数字化证券市场能实现所有权全天候交易、迅速清算以及无国界交易。分化的非流动性资产操作则可以消除摩擦并降低成本，从而促进了更广范围内的买卖双方交易并放宽了对更多元化资产流动性的限制。此外，数字合约和自动合规协议的可编程性使得交易可以在无需人工批准的情况下直接进行，最终有助于解锁大多数资产中的流动性溢价。“数字化基金允许基金经理投资非流动性资产而无需担心赎回问题”，投资者们可以获得二级市场中的交易流动性。
For example, illiquidity is usually cited as the number one issue related to venture capital investments. Though some VC funds allow the secondary trading of LP interests, these secondary market trades take months to complete and usually involve a 25%-30% discount in value. However, by issuing LP interests as digital securities, LPs can find appropriate time to liquidate their investment on the secondary market, instead of holding it for 10-15 years.9
低流动性通常被认作是风险资本投资的首要问题。虽然一些风投基金允许有限合伙人权益的二级交易，但这些交易往往需要耗时数月才能完成，且常会有25%-30%的贴现率。然而，通过以数字证券的形式发行有限合伙人权益则能使有限合伙人在合适的时间从二级市场中变现其投资，而无需持有10-15年。
Security tokens offer higher liquidity in private securities such as real estate and early stage equity; asset classes that traditionally suffer from low liquidity.7
数字化证券提高了传统市场中流动性较低的私有证券（如房地产和早期股权）的流动性。
Asset Interoperability 资产的互操作性
Interoperability is, broadly put, the ability of different systems to exchange and use information. In The Security Token Thesis, Stephen McKeon said, “The arc of technological evolution bends towards interoperability and interoperability is facilitated by standards. By definition, standards must have widespread buy-in to be effective.” We can conclude that, due to the function and characteristics of the distributed ledger and the foundation of current blockchain technology, blockchain can provide protocol standards upon which everyone can build. Therefore, this technology can be widely recognized by the public, thereby ultimately promoting interoperability among digital securities assets.
广义上的互操作性指不同体系中的信息交互及使用能力。Stephen McKeon在其数字化证券的要义（The Security Token Thesis）一文中表示：“技术进化的管理趋于互操作性，而标准的制定则促进了互操作性。显然，标准必须得到广泛的认可才能行之有效。” 12 我们可以断言：基于分布式账本功能特点和现有技术基础的区块链可以提供适合于每个人的协议标准。因此该项技术获得了公众的广泛认可并最终提升了数字化证券资产间的互操作性。
Stephen McKeon took the ERC-20 token standard that promotes interoperability within the Ethereum protocol as an example to prove the feasibility and prospect of asset interoperability. “Interoperability within the Ethereum protocol is facilitated by the ERC-20 token standard, which allows a wallet to hold any token that adheres to the standard. It makes distributions easy. For example, let’s say I own some ERC-20 tokens that represent ownership in an apartment building. Each month the lease payments from the tenants are converted to a ERC-20 stablecoin by the building manager and pushed to all the owners’ wallets in the corresponding proportions. Regardless of which ERC-20 wallet the owner uses, it can hold both the ownership and distribution tokens.”
Stephen McKeon以促进了以太坊协议互操作性的ERC-20为例来证明资产互操作性的可行性及其前景。“ERC-20允许钱包持有任何符合标准的代币从而提升了以太坊协议中的互操作性并简化了分派操作。假设我拥有一些代表一座公寓楼所有权的ERC-20代币。每个月，租客支付的租金都将由大楼经理转换为ERC-20稳定币，并按相应比例分派到所有业主的钱包内。所有者使用的任何一类ERC-20钱包都能拥有所有权并进行代币分派操作。”
As it stands, interoperability has two main uses when it comes to working with assets on different blockchains: “one is trading an asset on one chain for another asset on another chain; the other is representing an asset on several chains and moving instances from one chain to another” as Stefan Beyer puts it in his Medium article, Blockchain Interoperability- Moving Assets Across Chains. In order to achieve these interoperability scenarios faster, more securely and more consistently, there are currently three main interoperable blockchain frameworks: multi-chain solutions, chain relays and connecting external chains. With the improvement of blockchain technology, more frameworks will be set up in the future.
Stefan Beyer在其Medium文章区块链互操作性 – 实现链间流动（Blockchain Interoperability- Moving Assets Across Chains）一文中提出互操作性在处理不同区块链上的资产时的两大主要用途：“一是实现链间资产转换；二是代表多个链上的资产，并实现链间资产转移。” 为更快捷、更安全、更一致地实现这些互操作性场景，目前建立起了三大主要互操作性区块链框架，分别是：多链解决方案，侧链relay和外链连接。随着区块链技术的发展，更多框架将应运而生。
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