TSMC

• A blockchain token designed to track the price of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM).

• It is not a share. Holding the token does not confer ownership of the company, voting rights, or a direct claim against it.

• It offers fractional, round-the-clock price exposure without opening a foreign brokerage account.

• Founded: 1987

• Headquarters: Hsinchu, Taiwan

• CEO and chairman: C.C. Wei

• Listed on: NYSE (TSM, ADR) and Taiwan Stock Exchange (2330)

• Sector: Semiconductor foundry

• TSMC is the world's largest contract chip manufacturer and produces silicon for most leading fabless designers.

• It holds a dominant position at the most advanced process nodes.

• Its concentration in Taiwan makes it sensitive to regional geopolitical risk.

• High-performance computing, including AI chips, is the largest platform.

• Smartphone is the second-largest.

• IoT and automotive make up the rest.

• You get price exposure to the underlying instrument.

• You do not get shareholder voting rights.

• Dividend or distribution treatment depends on the issuer's structure and is often not passed through.

• You take on issuer and custodian risk in addition to the price risk of the underlying.

Pros:

• It leads in process technology.

• It has strong pricing power.

• It is expanding fabs in the US and Japan.

Cons:

• It is concentrated in Taiwan.

• It relies on a few large customers.

• Overseas fabs cost more to run.

• Counterparty risk: if the issuer or custodian fails, the backing may not be recoverable.

• Tracking risk: the token price can diverge from the underlying, particularly outside US market hours when the underlying does not trade.

• Liquidity risk: on-chain liquidity is thinner than the underlying market, so spreads can widen sharply.

• Regulatory risk: India does not yet have a settled framework for tokenised equities, and tax treatment remains unclear.

• Price risk specific to the underlying instrument.