# Token Standard

`x/tokenization` is the Cosmos SDK module that defines BitBadges tokens. Read this tab if you build against the chain directly or need to understand the rules an application enforces on your behalf.

## What the Module Does

A collection is an on-chain object that holds tokens with numeric IDs. Every transfer of those tokens runs through an approval engine that checks three layers of rules: the collection's rules, the sender's rules, and the recipient's rules. The manager configures the collection's rules and locks them with permissions. Nothing runs in a smart contract; the module enforces every rule on every transfer.

```bash
bb query tokenization get-collection 1
```

Main properties:

- No code and no smart contracts. Everything is module state and Cosmos messages.
- Three approval levels (collection, outgoing, incoming) that a transfer must satisfy.
- Approval criteria that gate transfers on payments, proofs, votes, token ownership, dynamic stores, EVM queries, and time.
- Any IBC coin can be attached to a transfer as a payment.
- Tokens can be wrapped into `x/bank` denoms for IBC and for the DEX.
- Extendable with the EVM precompiles and the extension hooks.

## Module Map

| Area | What it covers | Read when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Concepts](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/concepts) | The data model: ranges, balances, collections, address lists, approvals, permissions | First. Everything else assumes it. |
| [Approval Criteria](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/approval-criteria) | Every field of `approvalCriteria` and how each one is enforced | Designing transferability |
| [Messages](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/messages) | One page per transaction message | Building a transaction |
| [Queries](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/queries) | One page per query | Reading chain state |
| [IBC and wrapping](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/ibc) | Alias denoms, wrapper paths, backed minting, transfer hooks | Moving tokens across chains or into the DEX |
| [Integrate](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/integrate) | Standards, extension hooks, ante handler gates | Extending the chain itself |
| [BB-402](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/bb-402) | Payment-required protocol built on approvals | Charging for access |
| [Chain tab](https://docs.bitbadges.io/chain) | The other modules (`x/gamm`, `x/managersplitter`, ...), EVM precompiles, endpoints, nodes | Anything about the chain around the module |

## Reading Order

1. [Concepts](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/concepts), in the order that page lists.
2. [Approval Criteria](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/approval-criteria) once you know what an approval is.
3. [Messages](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/messages) and [Queries](https://docs.bitbadges.io/token-standard/queries) as reference while you build.

Most application developers do not need this tab. The BitBadges API returns balances and metadata, and the `bb` CLI and MCP builder tools generate valid transactions without hand-writing the structures described here.

## Related

- [Proto definitions](https://github.com/bitbadges/bitbadgeschain/tree/master/proto/tokenization)
- [bitbadgeschain repository](https://github.com/bitbadges/bitbadgeschain)