Building Trust in Digital Assets: Introducing the Token Integration Standard from the Blockchain Security Standards Council (BSSC)

By Joel Kerr, Head of DeFi Security, Coinbase and BSSC Member

Over the past few years, the adoption of digital tokens has exploded — but so have the risks. We’ve seen tokens that technically “worked” but contained hidden or abusive features that hurt holders:

• In 2022, GDS on Binance Smart Chain suddenly set its transaction fee to 99%, effectively trapping every holder — anyone selling would only recover 1% of their tokens’ value.
• In 2020, Compounder Finance’s developers slipped a hidden backdoor into its smart contract, enabling them to drain user funds in a rug pull.
• In 2021, $YEAR blacklisted users from converting their liquidity back on Uniswap, creating a buyers-only market that drove losses across the board.

These aren’t just isolated mistakes — they’re symptoms of the fact that, until now, there’s been no widely adopted baseline for safe token design or properly informing holders what risks to look for.

The BSSC Token Integration Standard (TIS) was created to change that. It sets out clear, enforceable rules for how secure tokens should behave, helping developers, custodians, and holders protect assets, avoid malicious design choices, and build lasting trust in the ecosystem.

This standard is designed to provide clear, actionable guidance for the safe custody and secure use of tokens, preventing the loss of funds to holds. It covers everything from smart contract vulnerabilities to transaction mechanics, helping the ecosystem align on what “secure” really means in practice.

Protecting Holders from Unfair Control

At the heart of the TIS is a simple principle: if you own a digital asset, you should have confidence that no one can take it away from you; not an issuer, not a developer, not anyone.

The standard outlines ownership integrity requirements to ensure:

• Tokens cannot be arbitrarily transferred away by a controlling party.
• Holders can always claim custody without hidden restrictions.
• Functions that could affect ownership are transparent and limited.

Standardized and Secure Token Behaviors

A secure token isn’t just about guarding balances — it’s also about behaving in ways the wider ecosystem can rely on. The Token Integration Standard enforces consistent, predictable token functionality so wallets, exchanges, custodians, and other smart contracts can integrate with confidence.

Under the TIS, tokens must:

• Follow the widely adopted ERC‑20 standard, ensuring they work seamlessly with existing tools and platforms.
• Make all balance changes visible on-chain by emitting standard events, so holders and custodians can track supply and movements transparently.
• Use safe development practices to prevent known vulnerabilities like overflow errors or reentrancy exploits.
• Avoid risky design choices such as hidden fallback functions or hooks that could cause unpredictable behavior.

Managing Updates and Maintaining Integrity

Tokens often include functions to update logic or rebalance accounts. While these can provide flexibility, they can also be abused. The TIS sets strict expectations around:

• How to preserve asset integrity after updates.
• Ensuring balances always reflect the true intended state.
• Implementing safeguards that prevent trust from being eroded.

Guidance for Developers, Custodians, and Holders

Ultimately, the Token Integration Standard provides both general security best practices and very specific, technical guidance. It outlines the key considerations for anyone interacting with digital assets:

• ‍Developers learn how to build tokens with safe, transparent functionality.‍
• Custodians gain confidence in safeguarding assets for their clients.‍
• Holders benefit from greater assurance that their assets cannot be arbitrarily altered or taken away.

Setting the Baseline for Secure Digital Assets

The goal of the standard is simple: give the ecosystem a baseline for what safe token design and custody look like. By aligning on clear expectations, the industry can foster greater trust in digital assets and reduce risks for everyone involved.

As the digital asset landscape continues to evolve, standards like this will play a critical role in protecting participants, strengthening ecosystems, and ensuring tokens deliver on their promise.

Explore the full TIS specification

To learn more or get involved with the Blockchain Security Standards Council, visit https://www.blockchainssc.org/membership