Helios Digital • Issuer Operations

Team + Full Issuer Runbook

This page is the internal operating manual for launching and running Helios as an issuer: how we buy and custody gold, how certificates are minted, how the evidence engine ties into settlement and proof, and what each role must deliver to stay operationally correct and compliance-ready.

Core Principle
No human discretion at settlement layers. Every critical step must be deterministic, auditable, and provable via public anchors + reserve snapshots.
What We Sell
Redeemable commodity-backed digital certificates (and, if enabled, a fungible liquidity token) backed 1:1 by vaulted gold under stated redemption terms. No yield promises.
How We Stay Listable
Clear token purpose, transparent reserves (Merkle PoR), documented controls, audits, and jurisdiction-aware compliance gates.
Important Note
This is an operational blueprint, not legal advice. Final structure, disclosures, redemption terms, and listing posture must be reviewed and approved by qualified counsel in each target jurisdiction.

Issuer Workflow: Start → Finish

A) Intake + Funding (Member Activation)
  1. Member passes onboarding gate (KYC/KYB tiering, sanctions screen, jurisdiction rules).
  2. Funds arrive (fiat/crypto). Treasury desk routes through approved on-ramp/off-ramp, records source/intent metadata.
  3. Funds land in escrow/custody-controlled account (policy-driven).
B) Gold Procurement + Vaulting
  1. Treasury executes purchase through approved dealer(s) under documented policy (spot reference, spread, execution window).
  2. Gold is vaulted as allocated holdings. Vault partner produces custody receipt(s) with weight + identifiers.
  3. Custody evidence is normalized into a deterministic custody event object (hashable payload).
C) Evidence + Proof (Helios Tie-In)
  1. A SHA-256 custody hash is generated from the custody event payload (receipt identifiers + weights + timestamps + issuer refs).
  2. Dual-chain anchors are recorded (XRPL + Stellar references) and stored in the evidence registry for verification.
  3. Treasury snapshots are built into a Merkle tree; root published for Proof-of-Reserves style verification.
D) Certificate Mint + Delivery (XRPL)
  1. Certificate NFT is minted (XLS-20) to represent specific gold weight/lot class.
  2. Ownership is delivered to member wallet or held in protocol vault depending on product mode (direct certificate vs liquidity mode).
  3. Member sees certificate + proof links (custody hash, anchors, merkle inclusion path).
E) Redemption (Gold or Stablecoin)
  1. Member requests redemption per published policy (identity check + eligibility + minimums + logistics).
  2. Certificate is marked redeemed/withdrawn; audit log updated.
  3. Vault partner fulfills physical delivery or approved conversion to stablecoin/fiat under policy (no discretionary pricing).
F) Liquidity Mode (Optional: DEX/CEX Listing)
  1. Certificates (or custody claims) are locked into a vault position system (backing pool).
  2. A fungible token (e.g., 1 token = 1 gram) is minted strictly 1:1 against locked backing.
  3. DEX liquidity is seeded carefully (phased rollout), with PoR continuously published to support market integrity.

Team Roles: Who Does What

Program Lead / Issuer Operator
Owner: Burnzy (You)
Mission: Own the end-to-end issuance program: product truth, operational readiness, partner execution, and launch discipline.
Responsibilities
  • Final authority on issuance parameters (tiers, fees, redemption rules) and go-live decisions.
  • Approve custody partners, trading venues, and on/off-ramp providers.
  • Own the 'no discretion' promise: ensure every step is deterministic, logged, and provable.
  • Sign off on Disclosure Pack and Exchange Readiness Pack before any public liquidity push.
Outputs
  • Issuer Runbook v1
  • Disclosure Pack v1
  • Launch Checklist (Go/No-Go)
  • Partner Contracts/LOIs status dashboard
Compliance & Legal Lead (External Counsel + Internal Coordinator)
Owner: Counsel + Internal Compliance PM
Mission: Keep Helios listable and bankable: structure, disclosures, KYC/AML posture, and jurisdiction controls.
Responsibilities
  • Determine classification posture: commodity-backed redeemable token vs securities regime per jurisdiction.
  • Draft/approve: Terms, Disclosures, Redemption Policy, Privacy, AML Policy, Sanctions Policy.
  • Define geographic restrictions and onboarding gates (KYC tiers, KYB for institutions).
  • Provide legal opinion and risk memo for exchanges (CEX listing readiness).
Outputs
  • Legal opinion / memo (jurisdictional)
  • AML/Sanctions policy
  • Redemption policy
  • Exchange submission package (legal section)
Treasury & Risk (Issuer Treasury Desk)
Owner: Treasury Operator
Mission: Control backing integrity: fiat custody, stablecoin conversion, gold procurement, and reserve ratio discipline.
Responsibilities
  • Manage incoming fiat/crypto flows and on-ramp/off-ramp coordination.
  • Execute gold procurement via approved dealers; ensure documentation completeness.
  • Reconcile reserves daily: supply vs backing; publish merkle snapshots.
  • Define emergency actions: halt issuance, pause redemptions (only if allowed), incident workflow.
Outputs
  • Daily Reserve Reconciliation
  • Gold Purchase & Vaulting Packet
  • Reserve Snapshot Merkle Root
  • Incident Reports (if any)
Custody & Vault Operations
Owner: Vault Partner + Custody Coordinator
Mission: Ensure the physical gold exists, is allocated, is auditable, and is redeemable under stated terms.
Responsibilities
  • Hold gold in allocated custody; issue custody receipts/serials/weights.
  • Provide attestation feed (or signed custody events) used by Helios evidence engine.
  • Support redemption logistics (shipping, pickup, dealer conversion) per policy.
  • Participate in audits and provide evidence to auditors.
Outputs
  • Custody Receipts
  • Allocation Reports
  • Audit Support Evidence
  • Redemption Fulfillment Confirmations
Protocol Engineering
Owner: Engineering Lead + Contributors
Mission: Ship deterministic issuance + proof system: no magic, no hidden state, full audit trail.
Responsibilities
  • Maintain issuer wallets, signing policy (MPC/TSS recommended), and release process.
  • Implement: certificate minting, reserve snapshots, dual-chain anchors, verification endpoints.
  • Maintain freeze/clawback configuration choices on XRPL/Stellar when required by compliance posture.
  • Build proof-of-reserves public dashboard and verifiers (merkle proofs, anchor lookups).
Outputs
  • Smart contracts / issuance scripts
  • Proof-of-Reserves dashboard
  • Chain watchers + evidence service
  • Release notes + incident playbooks
Exchange & Liquidity Lead
Owner: Listings / Market Ops
Mission: Make the asset tradable responsibly: DEX liquidity first, then CEX readiness with clean documentation.
Responsibilities
  • DEX deployment plan: pools, liquidity lock, market maker coordination (if used).
  • CEX package prep: audits, legal opinions, reserve transparency, tokenomics clarity.
  • Coordinate token listing applications and respond to diligence questions.
  • Monitor market integrity: redemption arbitrage, abnormal volatility, and messaging discipline.
Outputs
  • DEX liquidity plan + timelines
  • CEX listing application pack
  • Market integrity monitoring dashboards
  • Exchange Q&A log

Launch Timeline: Legal Gates + Operational Gates

Phase 0 — Structure & Controls
Target Window: Week 1–2
Gate: You do not sell or market a tradable token until structure, disclosures, and control policies exist.
Deliverables
  • Legal structure decision + counsel retained
  • Disclosures + Terms + Redemption Policy drafts
  • Issuer wallet policy (multisig/MPC), incident response plan
  • Proof model defined (merkle snapshots + anchor scheme)
Phase 1 — Custody & Evidence Rail
Target Window: Week 2–4
Gate: No certificate issuance until custody partner + evidence signing/attestation is live end-to-end.
Deliverables
  • Vault partner integration (receipts, allocation reports)
  • Custody event format + signing key management
  • Helios evidence service produces custody hash + anchors + merkle roots
  • Public verification endpoints (API) online
Phase 2 — Closed Pilot Issuance
Target Window: Week 4–6
Gate: Pilot only (limited participants), with redemption simulation and full reconciliation each cycle.
Deliverables
  • Issue first certificates (limited, whitelisted)
  • Daily reserve reconciliation + published merkle root
  • Redemption dry-run: request → approval → fulfillment
  • Security review + fix cycle
Phase 3 — Public Membership Launch
Target Window: Week 6–10
Gate: Public launch only after: disclosures final + operational audits + support processes are staffed.
Deliverables
  • Membership onboarding tiers + KYC/KYB gates
  • Customer support + dispute handling + escalation workflow
  • Public dashboard: reserves, anchors, verification steps
  • Marketing pages updated with compliant language (no promises)
Phase 4 — DEX Liquidity + Listing Readiness
Target Window: Week 10–16
Gate: DEX liquidity only after redemption is real and reserve proofs are routine. CEX applications require legal + audit readiness.
Deliverables
  • DEX pools (measured rollout), liquidity lock, market integrity monitoring
  • Third-party smart contract audit
  • Exchange Readiness Pack (legal opinion, PoR methods, tokenomics, controls)
  • CEX listing applications (Spot/other as applicable)

Gold Procurement: The Operational Answer

Do we buy the gold? Yes. Here’s the disciplined model.
  • Treasury executes purchases only through approved dealer(s) and policy-defined windows (no ad-hoc pricing).
  • Every purchase creates a custody packet: invoice, weight/lot, vault confirmation, timestamps, and internal issuance refs.
  • Custody packet is hashed (SHA-256) into a custody event that is anchored and later included in reserve merkle snapshots.
  • Redemption is possible only under written terms and verified identity controls, similar to how major gold token issuers describe tokenization and redemption operations.
What stays deterministic vs what is policy-controlled
  • Deterministic: issuance state machine, certificate minting rules, reserve snapshots, proof publication, redemption workflow states.
  • Policy-controlled: dealer selection, vault partner selection, onboarding tier thresholds, geographic restrictions, logistics.
  • Emergency-only controls: pause issuance/redemptions if allowed by policy and disclosed (with audit trail).

How Helios Infrastructure Connects

1) Settlement & Evidence Rail
Helios is the operational backbone: it standardizes custody events, produces proof artifacts (hashes, anchors, merkle roots), and publishes verification data through a consistent facility model.
2) Facility Tokens vs Asset Certificates
Keep categories clean:
  • Helios Certificates = commodity-backed instruments (gold weight).
  • Helios infrastructure = facility-level rails (governance, routing, fees, access tiers), not the gold backing itself.
3) Listing Narrative (What Exchanges Understand)
Exchanges want: legal clarity + controls + auditability + market integrity. Proof-of-Reserves is best framed using merkle-root snapshots and verifiable backing discipline.

Chain Controls: What We Configure Before Public Launch

XRPL (Issued assets / certificates / trustline settings)
  • Decide early: freeze/clawback posture must be set before broad distribution in some cases (issuer flags are meaningful).
  • Freezes can restrict suspicious counterparties; clawback can be used for compliance recovery where legally necessary.
  • Publish policy: when controls can be used, by whom, and with what audit trail. Don’t surprise the market.
Stellar (regulated asset controls)
  • Stellar supports clawback mechanisms designed to meet compliance expectations for regulated assets.
  • Use Stellar rails for compliant stablecoin liquidity and controlled issuance where needed.

DEX + CEX Readiness: What We Must Have

DEX (first)
  • Measured liquidity rollout (no chaos launch).
  • Live redemption and real reserve proofs before big liquidity.
  • Public verifier page: “paste hash → verify backing proof.”
CEX (later)
  • Smart contract audit (third-party).
  • Legal opinion + disclosure pack (jurisdiction aware).
  • Clear listing application details and risk posture alignment.
Proof-of-Reserves Discipline
  • Merkle-root snapshots on a schedule.
  • Full supply vs backing ratio published.
  • Anchor lookups available for every custody event.
Next internal action: Assign names to each role above, then run Phase 0 deliverables with a hard gate: no liquidity until disclosures + custody + proofs + redemption workflow exist and are staffed.
© 2026 Helios • Internal Operations Page