# Token Exchange Games

## TL;DR

This paper models token exchange as a game, providing a mathematical framework to understand ledger networks as complex, dynamic systems influencing resource distribution and economic interactions.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel mathematical framework for analyzing token exchange dynamics as complex networks, enhancing understanding of ledger systems in economic contexts.

## Key findings

- Network structure depends on exchange rules
- Token distribution patterns emerge from agent interactions
- Ledger dynamics can be modeled as complex networks

## Abstract

Human societies engage in a number of games which use tokens as a means to allocate, issue and access gated resources and property rights: The notion of exchanging tokens that represent and carry value from the past into the future to facilitate economic exchange is a fundamental concept. As agents exchange tokens a network structure is created in which the tokens move from agent to agent. Agents form the vertices in the network and the exchange of tokens creates the link structure. The rules of exchange adopted collectively by agents shape the network structure and affect the distribution of tokens amongst agents. Many inventions including banking, payments networks and blockchain technology have been created for the purpose of keeping accurate records of these implicit networks. However, our formal understanding of tokenised systems as large scale, iterative, interacting structures is limited. The aim of this paper is to study the dynamics of token exchanges as a game, and introduce a mathematical framework for understanding ledgers as complex networks.