Whitepaper: For Regulatory and Scholarly Review
This document describes the perpetual Index Asset Token (IAT) eco-system, a regulator-centric and Shariah-compliant structure designed for perpetual operation without interest, leverage, or peer-to-peer trading. The IAT framework separates governance, economic execution, and liability tracking across clearly defined actors and contracts. All obligations are transparent, auditable, and deterministically enforced through smart contracts and bearer contracts.
This section provides standardized definitions for all technical, legal, Shariah, and operational terms used in the IAT eco-system.
| Term | Category | Detailed Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Audit Trail/Event | Governance | An immutable, end-to-end record of all on-chain and off-chain actions, suitable for regulatory, financial, and Shariah audits. |
| Bearer Contract | Legal Instrument | The Bearer Contract operates in parallel with, but independently from, the IAT smart contract logic, ensuring that ownership, transfer, inheritance, and settlement rights attached to the IAT are enforceable both on-chain and in law, while faithfully reflecting the predefined economic outcomes of the IAT. |
| Blockchain | Technology Infrastructure | A distributed, append-only ledger used to record IAT lifecycle events, ownership changes, pricing declarations, and liability movements in a tamper-resistant manner. |
| Counterparty | Risk Control | All actors are explicitly defined counterparties within the IAT ecosystem, with clearly defined economic and governance responsibilities. |
| Customer | Actor | A user who is permitted to buy, sell, hold and transfer IATs directly with the relevant LP but not with other customers, ensuring no peer-to-peer speculation or secondary debt creation. |
| Economic Outcome | Financial Concept | An economic outcome is the value of a token, based on real-world performance and the economic rights it carries. |
| Final Settlement Price (FSP) | Pricing | The authoritative price declared by the market at market settlement, used for liability closure, customer redemption, accounting finality, and Shariah validation. |
| Governance Framework | Oversight | A structured system of policies, controls, disclosures, and approvals governing system behavior, pricing controls, and settlement integrity. |
| HAL AI Service | Mandatory Service | An AI-powered real-world service used as the economic reference for IATs. The counterparty, fractionally owned and contracted to the IAT, paying license fees via the Bearer Contract |
| Haqq Mālī | Shariah Classification | A recognised proprietary economic right under Shariah that may be owned, transferred, inherited, and compensated; IATs qualify as Haqq Mālī as they represent lawful economic entitlement rather than debt. |
| Immutable | Governance | A record that cannot be altered, reversed, or deleted once confirmed. |
| Index | Reference Asset | An index is a measurement tool used to display the last traded price of the underlying reference. |
| Index Asset Token - IAT | Core Instrument | An Index Asset Token represents a real-world–linked asset that carries tangible value and intangible economic rights, and is structured to comply with all Shariah principles. |
| IAT Token Minting | Token Supply | The controlled creation of IAT units, recorded on-chain through the smart contract, where minting is finite and strictly limited to each individual market, ensuring no additional tokens can be created beyond the predefined market issuance. |
| IAT Token Non Participating | Token Supply | Marketing IAT tokens as non-participating upon market settlement, ensuring liability closure and supply integrity. |
| Issuer | Actor | The entity that creates and issues IAT units to Subscribers under predefined and immutable rules |
| Issuer Ujrah Fee | Fee | A predefined percentage fee (e.g., 5%) charged to the LP at IAT token subscription, representing platform service cost and not linked to time or capital usage. |
| Last Traded Price | Pricing | The price at which the most recent transaction (a customer and the relevant LP transacting ) for a specific IAT occurred. It is continually updated while the index is open reflecting real-time market value |
| Liquidity | Risk / Market Capacity | The ability of the Liquidity Provider (LP) to meet all IAT buy and sell obligations arising from its own subscription, including repurchasing customer-held IATs at the LP Buy Price, so that trading remains orderly and all running market liabilities are fully settled. |
| Liquidity Provider (LP) | Actor | The Liquidity Provider (LP) supplies both buy and sell offers for every Index Asset Token (IAT) unit listed on a given index. This commitment must be honoured for the entire period during which the market is operational. |
| LP Buy Price | Pricing | The market-derived price at which the Liquidity Provider offers to repurchase all customer IATs. |
| LP Buy | Customer Sell-Back | A promised spot repurchase by the Liquidity Provider (LP) of customer-held IAT units, executed at the prevailing LP Buy Price upon customer sell-back. |
| LP Sell Price | Pricing | The market-derived price at which LP offers to sell IATs to customers. |
| LP Sell | Customer Buy | Customers buy IAT units from LP at the prevailing LP Sell Price. |
| Market | Lifecycle | A fixed operational period defined by a clearly stated market open and market close. |
| Market End/Close | Lifecycle | The definitive conclusion of a market cycle, after which settlement must occur and liabilities must be discharged. |
| Market Open/Active | Lifecycle | The point at which IAT units become eligible for trading under predefined rules and participation status. |
| Market Re-Enablement | Lifecycle | The activation of a new market cycle for the same perpetual IAT using a new smart contract and pricing parameters. |
| Market Settlement | Settlement Mechanism | A contracted reconciliation process executed at market close at published market or settlement prices price which is recorded in smart contract and RWA values in accordance with predefined and agreed rules. |
| No Interest (Riba-Free) | Shariah Principle | The system is designed to strictly avoid Riba, including interest, guaranteed returns, compounding, and time-based profit, ensuring that all value arises from lawful trade, ownership, and market-determined outcomes in accordance with Shariah-compliant principles. |
| No Leverage | Risk Control | A design rule prohibiting margin, borrowing, or leveraged exposure at any stage of the IAT lifecycle. |
| No Partial Fills | Execution Rule | A strict execution rule where IAT trades must be executed in full units only, preventing fractional exposure or partial contractual obligations. |
| Nominal Value | Pricing | The minimum value assigned to each IAT unit linked to the RWA it owns. |
| On-Chain | Technology / Governance | Actions, states, and records executed and immutably recorded on the blockchain, forming the authoritative audit and enforcement layer of the IAT system. |
| Oracle Data | Pricing | External reference data provided by approved sources and used by the IAT system to validate LP offer prices and track index movement. |
| Ownership Registry | Legal / Technology | The authoritative on-chain mapping of each IAT unit to its lawful holder. |
| Unit | Token Structure | Each IAT token constitutes one indivisible contractual claim, directly linked to a real-world asset. |
| Perpetual Token | IAT Token Design | An IAT token with no expiry date and limited issuance where economic continuity is maintained through recurring market settlement without interest, rollover cost, or leverage. |
| Platform Fee | Fee | A transaction fee (e.g., 5%) applied on all sell actions, representing service access rather than financing cost. |
| Price Boundary | Pricing Control | A predefined minimum and maximum price enforced by the smart contract to prevent price manipulation or disorderly markets. |
| IAT Issuance | Issuance | The initial release of IAT units into the system. |
| Real World Asset (RWA) | Asset Reference | A real-world asset is a tangible or measurable economic reference that exists outside the blockchain and has identifiable value, performance, or utility in the real economy. |
| Running Liability | Risk & Accounting | A continuously updated accounting measure representing the LP’s total outstanding obligation to IAT holders at prevailing IAT buy prices, inclusive of all bought but unsettled IATs. |
| Secondary Market | Trading | A defined trading environment in which IATs can be traded between the designated Liquidity Provider (LP) and customer. |
| Settlement Execution | Pricing Control | The execution of IAT transfers at published market or settlement prices. Settlement execution is obligatory for the Liquidity Provider in terms of price honouring, but not in terms of guaranteeing any economic outcome or value. |
| Shariah Annotation | Compliance | A transaction-level compliance mapping within the smart contract to ensure adherence to Shariah principles. |
| Smart Contract (SSC) | On-Chain Logic | A deterministic blockchain contract responsible for governing IAT lifecycle states, enforcing participation and pricing rules by coordinating with the bearer contract, tracking LP running liability, and recording immutable audit events and Shariah annotations. |
| Spot Transaction | Transaction Type | An immediate exchange of ownership and consideration at a disclosed price, with no deferment, credit, or time-linked obligation. |
| Subscriber | Actor | An entity that acquires IAT units directly from the Issuer through a capital subscription at issuance. |
| Subscription | Issuance | A transaction whereby a Subscriber acquires IAT units directly from the Issuer via the Subscriber’s capital subscription. |
| Zero-Debt Architecture | System Design | A structural design in which no participant owes principal plus increment to another participant at any time. |
The Index Asset Token (IAT) is a perpetual, per-unit token designed to evaluate the economic outcome of a predefined, Shariah-compliant index or asset reference, without creating debt, interest, leverage, or derivative obligations. Each IAT represents a single, indivisible contractual unit whose lifecycle is governed by a combination of a smart contract (governance layer) and a bearer contract (economic execution layer).
The IAT ecosystem is structured to clearly separate definition, ownership, governance, economic execution, and liability management. IATs are created through a one-time batch mining process with a fixed and immutable supply. Following issuance by the Issuer, IATs are subscribed by Subscribers. Liquidity Providers (LPs) then acquire IATs from Subscribers, after which the tokens are enabled for trading in the secondary market with customers. All economic interactions in the secondary market occur exclusively between customers and contracted Liquidity Providers. Customers do not trade with one another and do not negotiate prices.
Functions as a non-custodial control layer. It defines token identity, market linkage, pricing boundaries, participation status, and fee parameters. It records all lifecycle events in an immutable and auditable manner and maintains the running liability of each LP. The smart contract does not hold funds or execute trades.
Functions as the economic execution layer. It records ownership of each IAT unit, executes subscriber to LP, LP-to-customer and customer-to-LP transfers, recording IAT pricing, and deterministically updates the LP’s running liability.
Economic continuity is maintained through recurring market settlement events. At market settlement, the Liquidity Provider is contractually required to publish executable settlement prices for all outstanding IAT units and to honour executions at those prices, in accordance with the final settlement methodology. Settlement occurs through price execution rather than redemption. No fixed, minimum, or capital-protected settlement value is promised or implied. At the same time the issuer is responsible for all payments dues associated with the attached RWA.
For the avoidance of doubt, IAT settlement does not constitute a guarantee of capital, principal protection, par redemption, or repayment of subscription price. All settlement values are market-derived and may be higher or lower than the original acquisition price.
HAL AI is a proprietary artificial intelligence engine designed to analyse asset indices and market data. It operates as an off-chain, real-world service and is owned and operated by a separate AI engine entity.
Within the IAT ecosystem, HAL AI serves as the real-world asset reference to which Index Asset Tokens (IATs) are linked. Each IAT represents a perpetual contractual relationship to the economic performance and utility generated by the HAL AI service.
HAL AI contributes value to the IAT ecosystem through:
| Actor | Primary Role | Permitted Actions | Governance & Control |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Originator of IAT definition, index methodology, supply configuration. | Define IAT parameters, Execute one-time mining, Assign proportional ownership of HAL AI. | Acts at system-definition layer. No ongoing economic exposure post-subscription. Cannot alter supply after mining. |
| Subscriber | Initial economic counterparty that subscribes to IAT units. | Subscribe to IAT units, Acquire/Hold full ownership, Transfer to LP. | Acts only at subscription layer. Cannot modify smart contract logic. |
| Liquidity Provider (LP) | Economic counterparty to customers. Provides continuous liquidity. | Acquire IATs from Subscribers, Sell/Buy from customers, Execute settlement. | Single accountable counterparty. LP Running Liability tracked. Liquidity cannot be restricted/throttled. |
| Customer | End-user who can trade and own IAT units. | Buy from LP, Sell back to LP, Inherit units via LP, Hold HAL AI rights. | No control over pricing/supply. All exposure routed through LP. |
The smart contract defines lifecycle states, enforces permissions, links to the bearer contract, and records audit events. It does not custody funds, execute trades, or settle obligations.
| Stage | Actor | Action | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. IAT Definition | Issuer | Define IAT (AssetID, Min/Max Price, Shariah Annotations) | Pre-Mint |
| 1.1 Token Mining | Issuer | Batch mint N IAT units to Issuer treasury | Pending Deployment |
| 2. Deployment | Issuer/LP | Deploy contract, Link bearer contract, Set prices | Participating |
| 3. Subscription | Issuer/Sub | Subscriber pays to acquire IAT (Spot) | Participating |
| 4. LP Acquisition | Sub/LP | LP buys all units from Subscriber | Participating |
| 5. Secondary Market | LP | LP Enable trades with Buy/Sell offers | Participating |
| 6. Ownership Valid. | Smart Contract | Validate transfers via bearer contract | Participating |
| 7. Market End | LP | Mark non-participating | Non-Participating |
| 8. Settlement | LP/Issuer | Record final price, Settle customer units | Settled |
| 9. Re-Enablement | Sub/Issuer | Deploy new contract for next market | New Market |
The bearer contract governs the economic execution and ownership registry of IAT units. It tracks per-unit ownership, applies LP buy and sell prices, and updates LP running liability.
| Stage | Action | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Link Contracts | Reference IAT Smart Contract | Initialize ledger |
| Subscription | Subscriber acquires units | Ledger tracks ownership |
| LP Acquisition | LP acquires units | Ledger updates to LP |
| Market Pricing | Publish LP Buy/Sell Prices | Prices visible to customers |
| Customer Buy | Transfer LP → Customer | Liability: + (Units * LPBuyPrice) |
| Customer Sell-back | Transfer Customer → LP | Liability: - (Units * LPBuyPrice) |
| Settlement | Final Settlement Execution | Liability discharged |