Token-Based Employee Participation – Motivate and Retain Talent
Offer smart ownership for your team with tax optimization and a clear path to early liquidity.
More Than Salary
Top talent values equity participation more than cash. You’ve heard of ESOP and VSOP programs — but these come with two major headaches for employees: no liquidity and the worst possible tax rates. Introducing the next evolution of employee participation programs — TOP (Token Option Plans). Exclusively from Tokenize.it, these token options are secured on the blockchain and can be exercised any time after vesting to optimize tax outcomes. They are also tradable on secondary markets, giving recipients greater flexibility and liquidity. Empower your team with the ownership they deserve with TOP employee participation from Tokenize.it.
Why Traditional ESOP/VSOP Programs Fall Short
Equity participation should be a powerful incentive — not a liability. Yet traditional ESOP and VSOP programs are intransparent, result in the worst tax treatment for employees and offer zero liquidity. With real shares and ESOP programs beneficiaries often incur so-called "dry-income". And ESOP and VSOP programs are typically taxed at the maximum income tax rate upon exit. Employees can’t pick when options get exercised and have no feasible path to sell them after exercising. The result? Top employees don’t see the value and often prefer salary. The opposite of your intended goal.
Breaking Down the Tax Code
Token Option Plans (TOP): A Smarter, Tax-Optimized Solution
Token Option Plan
Incentivize More Than Just Employees
Token option plans aren’t limited to employees — they’re a powerful tool for incentivizing anyone you want to align with your company’s success. Whether it’s external contractors, key advisors, influencers, or strategic business partners, TOPs offer a flexible alternative to cash compensation. By granting token options, you can build long-term commitment, reward contributions, and share upside — all while preserving cash flow. With Tokenize.it, it’s easy to extend ownership-like incentives to the people who matter most, no matter their role.
Influencer
Contractor
Business Partners
How It Works
Getting started with Tokenize.it is fast and straightforward:
Set custom vesting rules, including cliff and duration, for the recipient with our intuitive builder.
Invite employee / contributor to execute their option plan digitally.
Option plans are secured by the blockchain and vest in real time.
Taxes only apply at the moment of exercising or selling the token options.
Manage everything through a streamlined dashboard with full transparency and the ability to stop vesting as required.
Tokenized virtual shares are compatible with trading on upcoming secondary markets.
Vesting Plan
€200 per vesting plan — one-time payment at setup. No subscriptions. No billable hours. Just straightforward pricing designed to scale with your team. Whether you’re a lean startup or a growing scaleup, Tokenize.it keeps your employee participation program fast, fair, and flexible.
Simple, Pay-As-You-Go Pricing
Frequently Asked Questions
Is that legal?
Yes. Tokenize.it is built specifically for German and Austrian GmbHs and uses contracts and processes built by legal experts. Contract templates are provided free of charge but do not constitute legal or tax advice.
Do I need a notary?
No. The entire process is fully digital and automated via smart contracts. No manual paperwork. No notary needed.
When do employees pay taxes?
Only when they exercise or sell their token options — not at the time of grant or during vesting. Employees are eligible for deferred taxation in Germany (§ 19a EStG) and Austria (§ 3 Para. 1 Z 15 lit. b EStG). Employees in Germany are also eligible for a 2,000 EUR per year tax-free exercise (§ 3 Nr 39 EstG). Plans can be structured so that employees in Austria qualify for optimized tax treatment under § 67a EStG.
Can employees get access to early liquidity with tokenized virtual shares?
Yes! Thanks to the underlying blockchain technology, token options that have been exercised are going to be tradeable in the future based on rules set by each issuing startup.
Give Your Employees TOP Benefits
Start building a more modern, tax-friendly equity program with real potential for early liquidity today. Give your team ownership that truly pays off. Give your team TOP from Tokenize.it.
Get Tokenized!
Schedule a personal consultation with a member of our team.
We’re happy to answer all your questions and give you a short demo.
Lukas Huber
Founder BAWA-Drinks
A perfectly organized onboarding and personalized support – Tokenize truly understands what drives startup success!
Thomas Schmidt
Business Angel of the Year des Jahres 2022
Investing into Tokenize.it was fast and easy. I was able to do everything digitally and complete the transaction within a matter of minutes. I’m recommending all the investors in my network to use it.
Andreas Eiter
CEO & Founder of DLT.Green
While researching tokenisation in the context of regulation, I came across Tokenize.it. This service allowed us to directly involve our active community in a legally compliant, simple and secure way.
