> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cts-docs.cosmos.network/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Delivery vs Payment

> Coupling an asset leg to a cash leg so neither can complete alone.

Delivery versus payment is the settlement convention that couples an asset
transfer to the cash transfer paying for it. Neither leg completes unless both
do.

Principal risk is the risk that one party delivers and the other does not pay.
Delivery versus payment removes this risk.

## Why it is easier on one ledger

Traditionally, the asset and the cash sit in different systems, often at
different institutions. Coupling them requires a third party to hold one leg
while the other completes, or a settlement window in which both are provisional.

Where the asset and the cash are recorded on the same digital ledger, both legs
can execute in a single transaction. No interval exists in which one has settled
and the other has not, so an intermediary has nothing to hold. See
[Atomic Settlement](/settlement/atomic-settlement).

The shared ledger makes tokenized deposits and tokenized securities more useful
together than either is alone: the cash leg is already there. See
[Securities](/use-cases/securities) and
[Jack Henry](/banking-core-integrations/jack-henry), which supports tokenizing
securities held on the general ledger.

## What still has to be true

Removing principal risk does not remove the other requirements of securities
settlement:

* The asset's authoritative register has to reflect the transfer, which for most
  securities is a custodian or central securities depository rather than the
  bank's own core
* Transfer restrictions have to be enforced at the moment of transfer, not
  detected afterwards
* Both legs have to reach finality, and the weaker of the two governs. See
  [Finality](/settlement/finality)

<Note>
  This page is a placeholder. Tokenized securities are not a shipped product today.
  The settlement mechanics described here follow from the architecture, not from a
  documented implementation. Contact [sales@cosmoslabs.io](mailto:sales@cosmoslabs.io) to discuss a securities
  use case.
</Note>

## Related

* [Atomic Settlement](/settlement/atomic-settlement)
* [Securities](/use-cases/securities)
* [How Settlement Works](/settlement/overview)