The digital assets landscape has matured considerably, with clearer regulatory frameworks emerging globally and institutional adoption accelerating. This creates a compelling opportunity for investors to gain exposure through listed blockchain equities, which offer distinct advantages over direct cryptocurrency holdings. The diversity of business models in the sector is striking. From Bitcoin miners providing leveraged exposure to the underlying asset while generating cash flows and expanding into other revenue streams, to exchanges and platforms benefiting from growing trading volumes and expanding service offerings. Payment providers are capitalising on the explosive growth in stablecoin usage, while tokenisation platforms are positioning themselves at the forefront of what could be a fundamental reshaping of financial markets.

Why consider digital asset equities?

We believe that investors seeking exposure to the digital asset theme should consider an investment in listed blockchain equities alongside an investment in cryptocurrencies for several reasons.

Firstly, the link between commercial success of blockchains and on-chain applications and the price of their native utility tokens is not straightforward. Secondly, tokens, which do accrue protocol fees but are not registered as securities, may be subject to increased regulatory scrutiny. Finally, listed equities provide exposure to the theme, not just from a plain beta exposure to the underlying asset but from distinct business models based on fees, income from liquidity provisioning or non-directional trading, and on-chain rewards (eg staking or mining rewards and decentralised finance, DeFi, income), among others.

In this report, the first in a five-part series, we focus on pure-play digital asset companies, acknowledging that investors may gain partial exposure to the theme via more traditional names expanding into crypto trading, payments and other related services.

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