Key Takeaways
- • Jeff Dorman, CFA argues that only four types of crypto investments are worth owning today: publicly traded crypto equities, existing tokens with real revenues and strong tokenomics, newly designed tokens built for value accrual, and legacy tokens attached to strong businesses that can be repaired.
- • Dorman favors Galaxy Digital (GLXY) and Securitize (SECZ) among public equities, citing Galaxy's exposure to institutional trading, asset management and AI data center growth, and Securitize's positioning in RWA tokenization; he notes Kraken is expected to pursue an IPO next year.
- • Venice AI (VVV) is cited as an example of new token design, where staking grants proportional access to AI inference capacity and revenue funds buybacks and burns, though Dorman says it is not necessarily attractive at current valuations.
- • Brave's Basic Attention Token (BAT) is presented as the leading example of a legacy token that could be repriced, after Brave's BAT Roadmap 4.0 announced in July plans to repurchase BAT with a share of net revenues; Brave reports more than 120 million users and over 200,000 Rewards Card waitlist signups in two months.
- • Dorman acknowledges no guarantee of success, noting that revenue-funded purchases redistributed to users are not equivalent to equity buybacks that permanently reduce supply.
Summary
In a commentary published as part of the Other Voices series, Jeff Dorman, CFA, contends that the number of genuinely attractive digital asset investments, though historically small, is expanding as fundamentals, tokenomics, regulatory clarity and institutional adoption improve. He frames the opportunity around four categories.
The first is publicly traded equities. Dorman says there are still few strong listed crypto companies, but he favors Galaxy Digital (GLXY) for its institutional trading, asset management and AI data center businesses, and Securitize (SECZ) for its exposure to tokenization of traditional financial assets. He expects more crypto firms to list over time, citing Kraken's expected IPO next year and other private companies that may follow if crypto IPOs recover.
The second category is existing tokens tied to businesses that generate real revenue and return value to holders through buybacks, staking benefits or fee distributions. Dorman argues that the historical disconnect between protocol success and token performance, seen with tokens such as LINK and XRP, is narrowing as token structures improve.
The third category comprises newer tokens designed with value accrual from launch. Dorman cites Venice AI (VVV), a privacy-focused AI service where staking provides a proportional share of inference capacity and revenue funds buybacks and burns. He says VVV should be valued on its merits, while stressing it is not necessarily attractive at today's valuations.
The fourth category, which Dorman calls the most overlooked, is legacy tokens attached to successful businesses whose economics can be redesigned. He highlights Brave Browser and its Basic Attention Token (BAT), noting Brave's more than 120 million users and its reported placement among the 50 most visited websites globally. BAT Roadmap 4.0, announced in July, outlines a stablecoin-powered Brave Rewards Card, a unified wallet, expanded payments through BravePay, and a plan to use a percentage of net revenues to repurchase BAT. Dorman notes the Rewards Card reportedly drew more than 200,000 waitlist signups in two months and that BAT is fully diluted, removing concerns about scheduled unlocks. He cautions that the changes may not succeed and that redistributed purchases differ from permanent supply reduction. Dorman concludes that similar repricing opportunities may exist across other crypto projects and non-crypto consumer businesses that could introduce tokens.
The first is publicly traded equities. Dorman says there are still few strong listed crypto companies, but he favors Galaxy Digital (GLXY) for its institutional trading, asset management and AI data center businesses, and Securitize (SECZ) for its exposure to tokenization of traditional financial assets. He expects more crypto firms to list over time, citing Kraken's expected IPO next year and other private companies that may follow if crypto IPOs recover.
The second category is existing tokens tied to businesses that generate real revenue and return value to holders through buybacks, staking benefits or fee distributions. Dorman argues that the historical disconnect between protocol success and token performance, seen with tokens such as LINK and XRP, is narrowing as token structures improve.
The third category comprises newer tokens designed with value accrual from launch. Dorman cites Venice AI (VVV), a privacy-focused AI service where staking provides a proportional share of inference capacity and revenue funds buybacks and burns. He says VVV should be valued on its merits, while stressing it is not necessarily attractive at today's valuations.
The fourth category, which Dorman calls the most overlooked, is legacy tokens attached to successful businesses whose economics can be redesigned. He highlights Brave Browser and its Basic Attention Token (BAT), noting Brave's more than 120 million users and its reported placement among the 50 most visited websites globally. BAT Roadmap 4.0, announced in July, outlines a stablecoin-powered Brave Rewards Card, a unified wallet, expanded payments through BravePay, and a plan to use a percentage of net revenues to repurchase BAT. Dorman notes the Rewards Card reportedly drew more than 200,000 waitlist signups in two months and that BAT is fully diluted, removing concerns about scheduled unlocks. He cautions that the changes may not succeed and that redistributed purchases differ from permanent supply reduction. Dorman concludes that similar repricing opportunities may exist across other crypto projects and non-crypto consumer businesses that could introduce tokens.
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