diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py b/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
index 52c70c13..2c005ac5 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ def _load_schema(name):
 
 
 TX_SCHEMA_PATH, TX_SCHEMA = _load_schema('transaction')
+_, TX_SCHEMA_CREATE = _load_schema('transaction_create')
+_, TX_SCHEMA_TRANSFER = _load_schema('transaction_transfer')
 VOTE_SCHEMA_PATH, VOTE_SCHEMA = _load_schema('vote')
 
 
@@ -43,6 +45,10 @@ def _validate_schema(schema, body):
 def validate_transaction_schema(tx):
     """ Validate a transaction dict """
     _validate_schema(TX_SCHEMA, tx)
+    if tx['operation'] == 'TRANSFER':
+        _validate_schema(TX_SCHEMA_TRANSFER, tx)
+    else:
+        _validate_schema(TX_SCHEMA_CREATE, tx)
 
 
 def validate_vote_schema(vote):
diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/schema/transaction_create.yaml b/bigchaindb/common/schema/transaction_create.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..090d4680
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/schema/transaction_create.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#"
+type: object
+title: Transaction Schema - CREATE/GENESIS specific properties
+required:
+- asset
+properties:
+  asset:
+    additionalProperties: false
+    properties:
+      data:
+        description: |
+          User provided metadata associated with the asset. May also be ``null``.
+        anyOf:
+        - type: object
+          additionalProperties: true
+        - type: 'null'
diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/schema/transaction_transfer.yaml b/bigchaindb/common/schema/transaction_transfer.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..80abbf95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/schema/transaction_transfer.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#"
+type: object
+title: Transaction Schema - TRANSFER specific properties
+required:
+- asset
+properties:
+  asset:
+    additionalProperties: false
+    properties:
+      id:
+        "$ref": "#/definitions/sha3_hexdigest"
+        description: |
+          ID of the transaction that created the asset.
+definitions:
+  sha3_hexdigest:
+    pattern: "[0-9a-f]{64}"
+    type: string
diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py b/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py
index 02332c38..23b8f169 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/transaction.py
@@ -999,7 +999,8 @@ class Transaction(object):
             transactions = [transactions]
 
         # create a set of the transactions' asset ids
-        asset_ids = {tx.id if tx.operation == Transaction.CREATE else tx.asset['id']
+        asset_ids = {tx.id if tx.operation == Transaction.CREATE
+                     else tx.asset['id']
                      for tx in transactions}
 
         # check that all the transasctions have the same asset id
diff --git a/bigchaindb/models.py b/bigchaindb/models.py
index 4f7d31f2..5d4b6c9d 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/models.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/models.py
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ class Transaction(Transaction):
         Raises:
             ValidationError: If the transaction is invalid
         """
-        if len(self.inputs) == 0:
-            raise ValidationError('Transaction contains no inputs')
-
         input_conditions = []
         inputs_defined = all([input_.fulfills for input_ in self.inputs])
 
@@ -117,8 +114,12 @@ class Transaction(Transaction):
         return self
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_dict(cls, tx_body):
+    def validate_structure(cls, tx_body):
         validate_transaction_schema(tx_body)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_dict(cls, tx_body):
+        cls.validate_structure(tx_body)
         return super().from_dict(tx_body)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_behaviours.py b/tests/test_behaviours.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..72bb4f17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_behaviours.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import pytest
+from bigchaindb.common import exceptions as exc
+from bigchaindb.models import Transaction
+
+
+################################################################################
+# 1.1 - The asset ID of a CREATE transaction is the same as it's ID
+
+
+def test_create_tx_no_asset_id(b):
+    tx = Transaction.create([b.me], [([b.me], 1)])
+    # works
+    Transaction.validate_structure(tx.to_dict())
+    # broken
+    tx.asset['id'] = 'b' * 64
+    with pytest.raises(exc.SchemaValidationError):
+        Transaction.validate_structure(tx.to_dict())