



Secure Asset Transfer Protocol                               T. Hardjono
Internet-Draft                                                       MIT
Intended status: Informational                            D. Avrillionis
Expires: 6 May 2026                                       Compellio Inc.
                                                         2 November 2025


           Secure Asset Transfer Protocol (SATP) Terminology
                 draft-hardjono-satp-terminology-00

Abstract

   This memo collates existing terminology related to digital assets,
   asset networks and distributed ledger technology (DLT) that are
   relevant to the secure asset transfer protocol (SATP) and the IETF
   more broadly.  Existing terms are borrowed as much as possible, and
   new terms are introduced only when necessary and with emphasis on
   technology neutrality.

About This Document

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   The latest revision of this draft can be found at https://ietf-
   satp.github.io/draft-hardjono-satp-terminology/draft-hardjono-satp-
   terminology.html.  Status information for this document may be found
   at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-hardjono-satp-terminology/.

   Discussion of this document takes place on the Secure Asset Transfer
   Protocol Working Group mailing list (mailto:sat@ietf.org), which is
   archived at https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/sat/.  Subscribe
   at https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/sat/.

   Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
   https://github.com/ietf-satp/draft-hardjono-satp-terminology.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.






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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Asset Networks Related Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Gateway Related Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  Digitized Assets and Registries Terminology . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     5.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     5.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

1.  Introduction

   The SAT protocol for interoperability utilizes peered gateways to
   perform a unidirectional transfer of a digital assets, from an origin
   asset network to a destination asset network [ARCH].  As stated in
   [CORE] the SAT protocol is agnostic to the type of network or system
   behind the gateways, and the protocol focuses on the interactions
   between the two gateways.

   While the SAT protocol defines the interaction between two gateways
   such that certain properties of the transfer is achieved (atomicity,
   consistency, isolation, durability), the protocol specification does
   not define how each gateway interfaces and interacts with their
   respective asset network.  Furthermore, the SAT protocol employs an
   abstraction of the functions present in these asset network.
   Examples of such abstraction include the functions of locking



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   (disabling) the asset on a network, burning (destroying) an asset,
   minting (creating) and so on.  However, in order to achieve a higher
   degree of precision in describing the utilization of the SAT protocol
   and its impact on asset networks, a definition of these terms is
   required.

   The goal of this document is to provide a terminology definition of
   the entities, constructs and on-chain functions that are relevant
   within the context of a SAT protocol deployment with gateways.  A
   layered approach is adopted to describe these constructs and on-chain
   functions, in order to minimize confusion with regards to which
   entities are utilizing these.

   As far as possible, this document will borrow existing terminology
   from other published standards.  The sources of this existing
   terminology will be cited.  When needed, the document will be verbose
   in providing definitions in order to remove any ambiguity in the use
   of the constructs (e.g. smart contract invoked by a gateway, versus
   that invoked by a client).

2.  Asset Networks Related Terminology

   *  Address: A short, alphanumeric string derived from a user’s public
      key using a hash function, with additional data to detect errors.
      Addresses are used to send and receive digital assets.
      [NISTIR8202] Account: An entity in a blockchain that is identified
      with an address and can send transactions to the blockchain.
      [NISTIR8301] Atomic swap: An exchange of tokens that does not
      involve the intervention of any trusted intermediary and
      automatically reverts if all of the provisions are not met.
      [NISTIR8301]

   *  Blockchain: Blockchains are distributed digital ledgers of
      cryptographically signed transactions that are grouped into
      blocks.  Each block is cryptographically linked to the previous
      one (making it tamper evident) after validation and undergoing a
      consensus decision.  As new blocks are added, older blocks become
      more difficult to modify (creating tamper resistance).  New blocks
      are replicated across copies of the ledger within the network, and
      any conflicts are resolved automatically using established rules.
      [NISTIR8202]

   *  Custodian: A third-party entity that holds and safeguards a user’s
      private keys or digital assets on their behalf.  Depending on the
      system, a custodian may act as an exchange and provide additional
      services, such as staking, lending, account recovery, or security
      features.  [NISTIR8301]




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   *  Consensus: A process to achieve agreement within a distributed
      system on the valid Cryptocurrency state.  Also known as a
      consensus algorithm, consensus mechanism, consensus method.
      [NISTIR8202]

   *  Double Spend: Transacting with the same set of digital assets more
      than once.  [NISTIR8202]

   *  Off-chain: Refers to data that is stored or a process that is
      implemented and executed outside of any blockchain system.
      [NISTIR8301]

   *  Oracle: A source of data from outside a blockchain that serves as
      input for a smart contract.  [NISTIR8301]

   *  Permissioned blockchain: A system where every node, and every user
      must be granted permissions to utilize the system (generally
      assigned by an administrator or consortium).  [NISTIR8202]

   *  Permissionless blockchain: A system where all users’ permissions
      are equal and not set by any administrator or consortium.
      [NISTIR8202]

   *  Smart contract: A collection of code and data (sometimes referred
      to as functions and state) that is deployed using
      cryptographically signed transactions on the blockchain network.
      The smart contract is executed by nodes within the blockchain
      network; all nodes must derive the same results for the execution,
      and the results of execution are recorded on the blockchain.
      [NISTIR8202]

   *  Wallet: Software used to store and manage asymmetric-keys and
      addresses used for transactions.  [NISTIR8202]

   *  Wallets, Custodial: Account custody -- and the custody of the
      associated tokens-- which is delegated to institutional third-
      party custodians who hold and safeguard private keys on behalf of
      users.  They provide different degrees of custody services and
      risk management.  Custodial wallets are also known as externally
      hosted wallets or managed wallets.  [NISTIR8301]











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3.  Gateway Related Terminology

   *  Gateway smart contracts: The smart contracts invoked by SATP
      Gateways in course of completing an asset transfer from an origin
      asset network to a destination asset network.  Some of the smart
      contracts invoked by a gateway may be generic to any type of asset
      (or asset class) on the asset networks, while other smart
      contracts may be designed specifically for gateways.

   *  Views: A projection of the state of an asset on a blockchain or
      asset network intended for an audience external to the network.
      This state information may pertain to a single element, a subset
      of the state, or a function over a subset.  For private
      (permissioned) asset networks, a gateway may provide an interface
      to access the view from the internal private ledger, and to return
      the relevant cryptographic proof regarding the truthfulness of the
      claim regarding then reported state of the asset.  [SATP-VIEWS]

   *  View Address: A unique identifier or locator for a view into the
      state of an asset on a blockchain or asset network.  [SATP-VIEWS]

4.  Digitized Assets and Registries Terminology

   *  Artifacts: The set of metadata information that supports the
      verification of a tokenized asset recorded on an asset network or
      specific blockchain.  The artifact information may be recorded
      within the body of a value-bearing token, or it may be recorded in
      a separate utility token (bearing no value) that is referenced by
      the value-bearing token.  Other The artifact information may be
      recorded off-chain in artifacts registries and other proprietary
      databases (e.g. in Central Securities Depositories (CSD)).

   *  Central Securities Depositories: A central securities depository
      (CSD) is a specialized financial market infrastructure (FMI)
      organization holding securities such as shares or bonds, either in
      certificated or uncertificated (dematerialized) form, allowing
      ownership to be easily transferred through a book entry rather
      than by a transfer of physical certificates.  This allows brokers
      and financial companies to hold their securities at one location
      where they can be available for clearing and settlement.
      [Wikipedia]










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   *  Asset Schema (Asset Definition Schema): The semantic definition of
      the tokenizable real-world assets in a computer-readable format
      (e.g. expressed in JSON-LD syntax, Common Domain Model (CDM)
      syntax, and others).  Certain industry verticals or asset-specific
      trading communities (e.g. Bonds) may define a subset of a larger
      asset definition schema.  These derived schemas are called schema-
      profiles (or simply "profile").

   *  Digital Asset Record (DAR): The set of artifact information and
      attributes of a real-world asset (RWA) that have been digitized
      into a standard format.  The DAR is a standalone digital record
      that either carries the artifact information itself or carries
      links/pointers (URLs) to, or hash-values of other artifacts
      information located elsewhere on the internet.  The DAR is
      expressed in a machine-readable format (e.g. JSON-LD) and is
      therefore blockchain-independent.

   *  Tokenized Asset Record (TAR): The on-chain representation of a
      Digital Asset Record (DAR) that is formatted according to the
      specific record/block structure of the ledger of the blockchain.
      The TAR must carry a cryptographic hash of the DAR from which it
      was derived.

   *  Decentralized Registry: The decentralized and persistent storage
      of the artifacts, schemas and DARs pertaining to a tokenized real-
      world asset (RWA) that enables the legal status of the token to be
      verified.

5.  References

5.1.  Normative References

   [BASE64]   Josefsson, S., "The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data
              Encodings", RFC 4648, DOI 10.17487/RFC4648, October 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4648>.

   [DATETIME] Klyne, G. and C. Newman, "Date and Time on the Internet:
              Timestamps", RFC 3339, DOI 10.17487/RFC3339, July 2002,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3339>.

   [JSON]     Bray, T., Ed., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data
              Interchange Format", STD 90, RFC 8259,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8259, December 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8259>.

   [JWA]      Jones, M., "JSON Web Algorithms (JWA)", RFC 7518,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7518, May 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7518>.



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   [JWS]      Jones, M., Bradley, J., and N. Sakimura, "JSON Web
              Signature (JWS)", RFC 7515, DOI 10.17487/RFC7515, May
              2015, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7515>.

   [JWT]      Jones, M., Bradley, J., and N. Sakimura, "JSON Web Token
              (JWT)", RFC 7519, DOI 10.17487/RFC7519, May 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7519>.

   [REQ-LEVEL]
              Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

   [RFC2616]  Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H.,
              Masinter, L., Leach, P., and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext
              Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2616, June 1999,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2616>.

5.2.  Informative References

   [NISTCSWP] "NIST A Taxonomic Approach to Understanding Emerging
              Blockchain Identity Management Systems", January 2020,
              <https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.CSWP.9>.

   [NISTIR8202]
              Yaga, D., Mell, P., Roby, N., and K. Scarfone, "NIST
              Blockchain Technology Overview (NISTR-8202)", October
              2018, <https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8202>.

   [NISTIR8301]
              "NIST Blockchain Networks Token Design and Management
              Overview (NISTR-8301)", February 2021,
              <https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8301>.

Authors' Addresses

   Thomas Hardjono
   MIT
   Email: hardjono@mit.edu


   Denis Avrillionis
   Compellio Inc.
   Email: denis@compellio.com





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