The Crypto 'Trichotomy'

In the roaring months of 2017, crypto pundits, analysts and funds developed various taxonomies of the rapidly diversifying crypto space: exchange tokens, utility tokens, payment tokens, asset-backed tokens, etc.

The blockchain and asset-backed tokens were still part and parcel of the crypto space.

As for first, "Trading token" is really a more accurate label for what most people refer to as "Cryptocurrencies."

We often forget where "Token" came from in history: amusement parks, subways and, more recently, token rings, LANs, etc.

Others may feel a given token has no such value - even in an identical sector.

Of course, whether a crypto token is traded externally or not, it still relies on the blockchain or generally similar protocol consensus algorithm.

The growing percentage of blockchain projects do not rely on trading tokens.

So radically in fact, that the DLT/blockchain space is essentially totally separate from the trading token space.

In December of 2017, the total trading token space reached about 80% of that level.

Asset-back tokens - which, as you may recall, used to be a single, rather orphaned category of cryptocurrencies - may actually end up being the large of the three branches, easily reaching triple-digit trillions.