Crypto Long & Short: The Secret to Token Success

Welcome to our institutional newsletter, Crypto Long & Short. This week: - Alexandra Levis Expert Insights The Hidden Driver of Token Performance By Jordan Brewer, investment analyst, Runa Digital Assets A recent example of a 14x oversubscribed ICO that quickly unraveled highlights the importance of investor relations in token markets. Poor investor relations can lead to the liquidation of a protocol's treasury, as seen in the case of Ranger Finance. Institutional-grade investor relations is the missing piece in token markets. As protocols seek public market investors to provide more durable capital, a key part of investor relations is regular investor calls where management provides forward guidance. Examples of teams leading in this area include Maple Finance and EtherFi. Research has shown that the value of forward guidance lies not just in providing it, but in its accuracy. Companies that consistently meet or beat their guidance enjoy a measurable stock price premium over those that don't. This premium compounds for 'habitual beaters,' meaning the market increasingly trusts and rewards management teams that repeatedly deliver. In crypto, a similar dynamic is emerging. Maple's ability to set and deliver on guidance has been recognized and rewarded by public market investors. From December 2024 to June 2025, the SYRUP token price rose from $0.10 to a high of $0.60, outperforming competitors like AAVE by 475%. EtherFi is another example of this dynamic, with the team providing specific guidance on customer acquisition costs and advertising budgets. However, guidance without delivery is just marketing, and investor relations in crypto doesn't end with a dashboard - it's where it starts. Guidance and accountability are at the heart of credibility for protocol teams, and it's credibility that builds conviction in public investors. Principled Perspectives Institutions are Changing How They Interact with Crypto Markets By Martin Burgherr, chief clients officer, Sygnum Bank A significant shift is underway in how institutional capital moves through crypto markets. Major trading firms are separating where they hold assets from where they execute trades, a change that signals a broader evolution in digital asset market structure. Historically, institutional traders have kept capital on the exchange to access liquidity. However, this model is capital-inefficient, with every dollar posted as margin earning nothing and unable to be redeployed. In a rising-rate environment, the opportunity cost is becoming harder to justify. The infrastructure is catching up, with firms like Wintermute and Nomura's digital asset arm Laser Digital using collateral held in regulated bank custody while maintaining access to exchange liquidity. BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized money market fund is now accepted as off-exchange collateral, and the infrastructure is being built by institutions that intend to use it. When collateral moves into regulated custody, it can take a different form, such as U.S. Treasuries or tokenized money market fund shares, which can serve as trading collateral while earning yield. This changes the economics of running an institutional crypto trading operation, reducing the effective cost of maintaining trading positions. Crypto is beginning to follow a familiar pattern, with traditional finance having solved this problem long ago. Equities trade on exchanges, assets settle through custodians, and the two functions live in different places, governed by different entities. This separation is what makes institutional participation possible at scale. According to EY-Parthenon's 2026 institutional investor survey, 73% of institutional investors plan to increase their digital asset allocations this year, with respondents becoming more selective about counterparty risk. The infrastructure is scaling to meet them, and the migration is already underway. Headlines of the Week By Francisco Rodrigues This week's headlines highlight the growing bridges between traditional finance and the crypto sector, as well as the devastation caused by smart contract exploits. Chart of the Week Collector Crypt: Revenue Recovery and Token Re-Rating After peaking in September 2025, Collector Crypt's weekly revenue pulled back sharply before recovering to ~$1 million/week since March, with the CEO's revenue-funded buyback program providing a mechanical bid under CARDS throughout the recovery. The recent price spike was turbo-charged by a community update on April 24 claiming $146.9 million Q1 revenue and $8.6 million profit, though the token remains 73% below its all-time high. Listen. Read. Watch. Engage. Looking for more? Receive the latest crypto news from coindesk.com and market updates from coindesk.com/institutions. Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc., CoinDesk Indices or its owners and affiliates.