Investor capital is rotating from newly launched crypto tokens into publicly listed crypto companies as more than 80% of 2025 token launches trade below their token generation event price, according to DWF Labs.
Drawing on Memento Research data across centralised and decentralised exchanges, DWF said most new tokens fall 50% to 70% within roughly 90 days of listing, indicating consistent post-launch drawdowns rather than short-term volatility.
“TGE price is the exchange-listed price set before launch,”
DWF Labs managing partner Andrei Grachev said, adding that it allows observers to measure how sharply valuations shift in the first days of open trading.
In contrast, fundraising for crypto-related initial public offerings reached about $14.6 billion in 2025 while merger and acquisition activity exceeded $42.5 billion, the strongest level in five years, suggesting capital is not leaving the sector but changing form.
“If capital were simply leaving crypto, you wouldn't see IPO raises jump 48x year-over-year to $14.6 billion, M&A hit a 5-year high of over $42.5 billion, and crypto equity performance outpacing token performance,”
Grachev said.
DWF’s analysis showed listed companies such as Circle, Gemini, eToro, Bullish and Figure trade at trailing 12-month price-to-sales multiples between roughly seven and 40 times, compared with two to 16 times for comparable token projects, a gap the firm attributes to regulatory accessibility and institutional mandates.
WeFi co-founder Maksym Sakharov described the shift as structural, arguing that institutional investors increasingly favour “cleaner ownership, clearer disclosure, and a path to enforceable rights,” while concluding that tokens tied to serious revenue-generating protocols may endure but speculative launches face a far tougher environment.