Digital Token Identifiers (DTIs) are identifier numbers or symbols that represent digital currencies. The main problem with transacting in digital currencies is that they don’t have identifiers that banks can use to differentiate token transactions. For example, a bank program could easily tell the difference between “USD” and “AUD,” but this is more difficult for “Bitcoin” and “Bitcoin Cash.”

In 2016, ISO concluded that the ISO 4217 standard could not assign official currency codes to cryptocurrencies. Instead, the solution would be a new category of codes to help identify digital currencies, called digital token identifiers.

In September 2021, ISO released the digital token identifier standard, ISO 24165-1:2021. This standard allows token creators to assign fixed-length identifiers for their tokens and register them with the ISO database. These codes will be standardized and deployed to financial institutions worldwide, allowing them to manage digital tokens on behalf of their clients.