IR and Token Transparency in 2026

01

Disclosure rates

13 disclosure metrics assessed across 150+ protocols. The gap between what traditional markets require and what crypto voluntarily provides is structural, not accidental.

Less than 1% of protocols disclose market maker terms. In traditional equity markets, market maker agreements are standard disclosure items filed with exchanges. In crypto, Meteora is the only protocol in our entire 150+ protocol dataset that has publicly disclosed information about its market making arrangements, via its 2025 Annual Token Holder Report.

02

Third-party data coverage

5 major data platforms assessed. Coverage rates reflect whether each protocol has a dedicated profile with meaningful data beyond basic price information.

95%

Dune Analytics

93%

Token Terminal

88%

DefiLlama

85%

Artemis

42%

Blockworks

Platform coverage distribution

Protocols by # of platforms (out of 5)

72% of protocols are covered by 4+ platforms. Third-party data infrastructure has matured significantly. The data exists. The problem isn't data availability, it's that protocols aren't leveraging this data in structured investor communications.

03

The transparency paradox

Revenue exists onchain. Reporting doesn't exist anywhere. This chart shows the disconnect between data availability and investor communication.

91% of protocols generate trackable revenue. 8% publish a token holder report. The data is there. It's onchain, it's indexed by third-party platforms, it's publicly verifiable. But fewer than 1 in 10 protocols package this data into a format that institutional investors can consume. This is the IR gap that defines the industry.

04

Sector breakdown

Disclosure practices vary dramatically by sector. DeFi protocols, particularly DEXes and lending, lead on transparency. L1s and infrastructure protocols lag despite larger market caps.

Avg disclosure score by sector

Chain distribution

Sector	Rev data	Rev segmented	Quarterly	Token report	Active value accrual	TTF filed
DEX	98%	52%	14%	8%	56%	18%
Lending	96%	48%	22%	12%	28%	14%
Perps	100%	62%	16%	10%	62%	20%
L1/L2	92%	18%	20%	8%	12%	0%
DePIN/AI	72%	22%	8%	0%	14%	0%
Interop/Bridge	95%	20%	10%	0%	22%	0%
CEX Tokens	30%	0%	0%	0%	72%	0%

05

Token Transparency Framework

Blockworks launched the Token Transparency Framework in June 2025, presenting it to the SEC alongside Jito. 13 protocols have filed. Here's who they are and what it means.

Protocol	Sector	Chain	IR hub	Quarterly	Value accrual	Rev segmented
Meteora	DEX	Solana	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jito	LST/MEV	Solana	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Jupiter	DEX/Agg	Solana	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
dYdX	Perps	Cosmos	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Morpho	Lending	Ethereum	No	No	No	Yes
Raydium	DEX	Solana	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Aerodrome	DEX	Base	No	No	Yes	Yes
Maple	Credit	Ethereum	No	Yes	No	Yes
Euler	Lending	Ethereum	No	No	Yes	Yes
EtherFi	LST	Ethereum	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Marinade	LST	Solana	No	No	No	No
Gains Network	Perps	Arbitrum	No	No	Yes	Yes
MetaDAO	Governance	Solana	Yes	No	No	No

TTF adoption is 9%, up from 0% in June 2025. The 13 filers skew heavily toward Solana (6/13) and revenue-generating DeFi protocols. Zero L1s, zero L2s, and zero infrastructure protocols have filed. The framework was presented to the SEC with bipartisan support from Pantera, Theia, and L1D. But adoption remains a crawl.

06

Active value accrual

38% of protocols have some form of active value accrual: a mechanism that returns economic value to token holders beyond governance rights. But "value accrual" is not one thing. We identified six distinct models across the dataset.

Model 01

Direct fee distribution

Protocol revenue flows directly to token stakers as yield. Closest analog to equity dividends. Real, non-inflationary returns in the fee currency. Examples: dYdX (100% fees to stakers), GMX (ETH/AVAX yield).

Model 02

Buyback-and-burn

Protocol uses revenue to purchase tokens on the open market and permanently remove them from circulation. Closest analog to share repurchases. Examples: Meteora ($10M program), Raydium (12% of fees, $196M cumulative), Orca (20% of fees).

Model 03

Staking revenue share

Holders lock tokens and receive a share of protocol revenue proportional to their stake. Requires active participation and time-lock commitment. Examples: Pendle (80% to vePENDLE + 3% yield fees), EtherFi ($50M buyback via staking).

Model 04

Conditional buyback

Buyback activation is tied to protocol health metrics. Prevents value extraction during downturns. Most sophisticated governance design but hardest to explain to allocators. Example: Lido NEST (ETH >$3K, revenue >$40M/yr, $10M/yr cap).

Model 05

Ve-model epoch distribution

100% of protocol fees distributed to vote-escrowed token holders each epoch. Creates economic flywheel through bribes. Requires active management, limiting passive institutional adoption. Example: Aerodrome (100% fees to veAERO voters).

Model 06

Governance-only (no fee switch)

Token grants governance rights but zero economic claim on revenue. $0 flows to holders regardless of profitability. Weakest model for institutional adoption. Examples: Compound, Morpho (pre-activation), most L1/L2 tokens.

Value accrual adoption by model

Active VA by sector

The alpha is not in the mechanism. It's in the revenue. Any active accrual model outperforms governance-only tokens by approximately 19 percentage points on a 1-year return basis. But within the active group, daily revenue scale is the differentiator. Governance-only tokens averaged -51% returns vs. -32% for active accrual tokens over the same period. The mechanism matters less than the fact that one exists at all.

07

Key findings

Six patterns that emerged from assessing 150+ protocols across all 15 metrics.

Finding 01

The IR infrastructure gap is structural

3% of protocols have a dedicated IR hub. 5% maintain an investor-focused channel. The vast majority treat IR as a Twitter account and a Discord, neither built for institutional capital.

Finding 02

Revenue exists. Reporting doesn't.

91% generate trackable revenue. 18% publish quarterly updates. 8% produce a token holder report. The data is onchain. Protocols simply aren't packaging it for investors.

Finding 03

Market maker opacity is universal

Only one protocol in the dataset (Meteora) has disclosed any information about its market making arrangements. Every other protocol, including those publicly traded on every major exchange with sophisticated investor bases, treats MM terms as classified.

Finding 04

Perps lead on active value accrual

62% of perps protocols have active value accrual mechanisms (direct fee distribution, buyback-and-burn, or staking revenue share) vs. 12% of L1/L2s. The perps sector treats token holder alignment as a competitive advantage, not an afterthought.

Finding 05

L1s lag despite larger market caps

Layer 1 blockchains score lower on every disclosure metric except float disclosure. The Foundation governance model creates an IR vacuum. No one owns the investor communication function.

Finding 06

Solana punches above its weight

6 of 13 TTF filers are Solana protocols. The ecosystem's culture of public accountability, driven by Jito, Jupiter, and Meteora, has created a disclosure standard that Ethereum DeFi hasn't matched.

08

The state of crypto IR in six numbers

The gap between what institutional investors expect and what crypto protocols provide, quantified.

<1%

Disclose market maker terms

3%

Have a dedicated IR hub

8%

Publish a token holder report

9%

Filed Token Transparency Framework

91%

Generate trackable revenue

38%

Have active value accrual

09

Protocol index

Every protocol assessed in this report. Sorted alphabetically. A tick means disclosed or present. A cross means not disclosed or absent.

Protocol	Ticker	Sector	Chain	IR hub	Rev data	Rev seg	Quarterly	Token rpt	TTF	Value accrual	MM terms

150+ protocols assessed across 18 total metrics (13 disclosure + 5 platform coverage). This index represents the most comprehensive assessment of crypto IR practices to date. The full dataset is maintained in the Novora IR Benchmark Database and updated quarterly.

10

Methodology

All metrics are binary. No subjective scoring. No weighting. Just whether the information exists or doesn't.

Disclosure metrics (13)

Dedicated IR hub
Revenue data available
Revenue segmented by source
Float / circulating supply disclosed
Quarterly updates published
Token holder report
Market maker terms disclosed
Exchange listing strategy disclosed
Token Transparency Framework filed
Active value accrual mechanism
One-pager available
Dedicated investor channel
Per-token metrics published

Platform coverage (5)

Artemis
Token Terminal
Dune Analytics
DefiLlama
Blockworks Research

Universe: 150+ tokens selected from the top 200 by fully diluted valuation, including L1 base layers, CEX tokens, and application-layer protocols. Excluding stablecoins, meme tokens, and wrapped assets. Focused on tokens with meaningful onchain or exchange activity and institutional relevance. All data verified manually as of April 2026.