Glossary of Technical Terms

Glossary of Technical Terms

Welcome to the Polymath Glossary — a curated reference guide for terminology used across the Polymath ecosystem, the Polymesh blockchain, and the broader world of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). 

This glossary defines key concepts relevant to: 

• Polymath Capital Platform and Token Studio
• The Polymesh blockchain and token standards
• Security token issuance and compliance 
• Real-world assets (RWAs), investors, and marketplaces 

Definitions are arranged alphabetically for easy navigation.  

A

Accreditation 
A regulatory designation that permits certain individual or institutional investors to access private securities not available to the general public. Accreditation criteria vary by jurisdiction. 

AML (Anti-Money Laundering) 
A set of regulatory practices designed to prevent illegal financial activity such as money laundering. All financial services firms must implement AML compliance protocols. 

Asset 
The underlying security being tokenized through the Polymath Capital Platform. Assets can include equity, debt, real estate, or other instruments. 

ATF (Anti-Terrorist Financing) 
A set of regulatory practices aimed at preventing the financing of terrorism. Often implemented in parallel with AML practices. 

B
Blockchain 
A decentralized, immutable ledger used to securely record and verify transactions. The basis for security token infrastructure like Polymesh. 

Bond 
A type of security that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (typically a corporation or government). Bonds generally offer fixed interest payments. 


C
Capitalization Table (Cap Table)  
A structured record detailing a company’s ownership, including the types of securities issued and their distribution among investors. 

C-Corporation 
A common U.S. corporate structure that allows for unlimited shareholders and offers limited liability, but is subject to corporate income tax. 

Company 
A legal entity, such as a corporation or fund, that issues tokenized securities through the Polymath platform. 


E 
Equity 
A security representing ownership in a company. Equity holders may be entitled to voting rights and dividends. 

ERC-20 
A widely used token standard on the Ethereum blockchain for fungible tokens. Ensures compatibility across Ethereum-based platforms. 

ERC-1400 
An Ethereum token standard designed specifically for security tokens. It includes compliance and partitioning features suitable for regulated markets. 
 

F 
Fund 
An investment vehicle pooling capital from multiple investors to invest in assets like equities, bonds, or tokenized securities. 


G 
General-Purpose Blockchain 
A blockchain built to support a wide range of use cases and decentralized applications (e.g., Ethereum, Solana). 

I
Individual Investor 
An investor who purchases securities for personal investment purposes rather than on behalf of an organization. 

Institutional Investor 
An organization—such as a hedge fund, pension fund, or family office—that invests pooled capital in securities, including tokenized assets. 

Investor 
Any party that purchases or holds a tokenized security. 

Issuer 
An entity that creates, manages, and distributes security tokens to investors, typically via a platform like Polymath. 

K
KYC (Know Your Customer) 
A compliance process requiring verification of an individual investor’s identity to prevent illicit financial activity. 

KYB (Know Your Business) 
A compliance process requiring verification of an institutional investor or corporate entity’s identity and legitimacy.  

L 
LLC (Limited Liability Company) 
A flexible corporate structure used in jurisdictions like the U.S. and Canada that offers pass-through taxation and limited liability. 

M 
Marketplace 
A component within the Polymath Capital Platform where issuers can manage companies, assets, and offerings. Each Marketplace may contain multiple entities and tokenized asset campaigns. 

N
Node-as-a-Service 
An offering on the Polymesh network allowing users to operate nodes without owning hardware infrastructure, improving accessibility and decentralization. 

O 
Offering 
The process through which an issuer makes a tokenized asset available to investors on the Polymath Capital Platform. One asset may have multiple offerings with different terms or tranches. 

Origination 
The creation of a new financial asset—issued exclusively and natively on a blockchain, rather than being a blockchain representation of an existing instrument in the real world.  

Owner’s Managements  
See “Capitalization (cap table) 

P 
Polymath Capital Platform 
Polymath’s end-to-end solution for the creation, issuance, and management of tokenized securities and investor onboarding. 

Polymath Token Studio 
A platform for designing, launching, and configuring security tokens with built-in compliance controls. 

Polymesh 
A purpose-built blockchain designed specifically for regulated financial assets and security tokenization. 

Polymesh Token (POLYX) 
The native utility token of the Polymesh blockchain. Used for staking, transaction fees, and governance participation. 

R 
Real Estate (Tokenized) 
A category of asset that represents fractional ownership in real-world real estate, such as land, infrastructure, or buildings. 

RWA (Real World Assets) 
Traditional financial assets—such as real estate, bonds, and stocks / equities — that are tokenized for more efficient transfer and settlement on a blockchain. 

S 
Security Token 
A digital representation of a regulated financial asset (such as equity, debt, or real estate) issued and transacted on a blockchain. 

Special-Purpose Blockchain 
A blockchain designed for a narrow range of applications—e.g., financial asset tokenization—with built-in compliance and regulatory features. 

ST-20 
A token standard on the Polymesh network developed for compliant security token issuance and management. Similar to ERC-1400 but optimized for Polymesh. 

T 
Tokenization 
The process of digitally representing a real-world asset on a blockchain, enabling fractional ownership, programmability, and increased liquidity.