Tokens serve as visible representation of facts, which is why they’re useful in value exchanges, as means of authentication, or for proving membership. This is because facts are values which incorporate time; they are "an event or thing known to have happened or existed". The word comes from a past participle in Latin, factum, meaning "something done". Tokens on Ethereum are facts (values) mapped to a key in a shared contract, with a verifiable trail of how the values associated with any key change over time.

In computing, a token is a sequence of bits passed continuously between nodes in a fixed order, which enables a node to transmit information, or the smallest meaningful unit of information in a sequence of data for a compiler.

So, tokens touch both value (they are visible representations of facts) and meaning, and the word 'token' itself comes from German and Dutch roots, tachen, which means "teach", i.e. the transmission of information.

The way we use token teaches us (as in reveals) what we value, and the way tokens are designed teach us (as in train) what to value and where to locate meaning. As such, tokens are likely the most potent form of cultural production we have yet invented.

This section of the website is a living exploration, in community, of how tokens teach us about what we value, and the ways in which we might use various token designs to teach one another more about what it is possible to come to value and mean as human beings.

This guild was started by KB4 Fellow Michael Keating, and we are endlessly grateful to him for taking the initiative to create a space in which we can explore this growing part of the web3 garden. If you're reading through this, we hope it'll give you "permission" to start gathering people around a topic that is close to your heart.

Tokens, and mechanism design more broadly, present us with an infinite design space, and it is a space we wish to dive deeply into with experts from across the world. Therefore, the people involved will share various preparatory materials which you will need to read through prior to the sessions if you wish to speak. If you are not able to, you are still very welcome to join, but as a listener only.

These are sessions intended for informed conversation. However, this doesn't mean the sessions are serious or heavy. We just think that the most fun and playful conversations arise when you are already familiar with at least some parts of the jungle gym.