Tokens are not a new phenomenon; they existed long before the blockchain. Tokens have historically held some economic value. Tokens made of shells and beads were undoubtedly the first. Casino chips, vouchers, gi cards, bonus points for the reward program, coat check tokens, stock certificates, shares, concert or party entry tokens marked with a stamp on your palm, dinner reservations, ID cards, group memberships, or train or flight tickets are all examples of tokens.

Most tokens include anti-counterfeiting mechanisms to prevent people from tampering with the system, which can be more or less secure. Tokens are a type of paper money. Tokens are also used in computing to represent a right to perform a procedure or to control access rights. For example, when we browse the web, our web browser sends tokens to websites, and when we use our phone, it sends tokens to the phone system.

The tracking codes you can monitor through postal services on your package are a more practical type of computer tokens or QR codes that provide access to a train or plane. Tokens have been used as a positive reinforcement tool in psychology to promote beneficial behavior in patients, particularly in a hospital setting. Cognitive psychology employs reward tokens as a means of exchange that can be exchanged for special benefits during a hospital stay.