Coin-stock linkage: The core variable is "valuation logic".

Author: Zhang Feng

As the global cryptocurrency market shifts from "barbaric growth" to "compliance and mainstreaming," institutional funds have flooded in, reshaping the market pricing mechanism. From the large-scale purchase of Bitcoin by the American software company Strategy to Hong Kong's Boyaa Interactive transitioning into the Web3 space by allocating cryptocurrency assets, an increasing number of listed companies are incorporating digital currencies into their balance sheets.

For some time now, the "coin-stock linkage"—the connection between cryptocurrencies and the stock market—has evolved from being merely a risky attempt by individual companies to becoming an important bridge for traditional listed companies to engage with the crypto world in a "two-way rush." But how is the coin-stock linkage changing the valuation logic of enterprises? It may not be as simple as just buying cryptocurrencies; this could represent a systematic reconstruction of valuation logic.

I. Internal Basis: Three Dimensions of Digitalization

The reason why enterprises' involvement in the cryptocurrency business can change traditional valuation logic lies in the fact that it reconstructs the fundamental value of enterprises through digital means from three dimensions: transparency, level of ecological openness, and level of transaction intelligence.

Enhanced Transparency is a natural result of the inherent alignment between blockchain technology and the information disclosure requirements of publicly listed companies. As a distributed ledger technology, the core feature of blockchain is its immutability and full traceability. An information disclosure system based on blockchain can achieve real-time, immutable records of financial and operational data, significantly reducing the verification costs for regulatory agencies. When a publicly listed company tokenizes a portion of its accounts receivable in the form of RWA and circulates it on the blockchain, the authenticity, transaction records, and ownership changes of these assets will be permanently recorded, making any attempts to tamper with or conceal information extremely difficult at the technical level.

Community Participation Expansion essentially builds a new type of ecological value and network effect. One of the core features of Web3 is community-driven and decentralized governance. Public companies expand community participation through cryptocurrency businesses, directly altering the growth assumptions and marginal return expectations in traditional valuation models. Commodity or service tokens attract users to deeply engage with enterprise services; payment tokens promote economic circulation and user stickiness within the ecosystem; equity tokens convert users into shareholders, achieving benefit alignment and shared governance.

Intelligent Enhancement leverages Web3 technologies such as smart contracts and decentralized autonomous organizations to enable listed companies to achieve a higher degree of automation in their crypto businesses, significantly reducing participation costs and improving operational efficiency. The automated execution based on smart contracts can greatly reduce intermediaries and manual interventions. A listed company participating in cryptocurrency mining can automatically complete processes such as electricity fee payment, mining machine maintenance scheduling, and mining revenue distribution through smart contracts, which not only lowers operational costs but also enhances the reliability and transparency of the processes.

2. Basic Models: Three Ways to Participate in the Crypto Business

Based on the core characteristics of cryptographic technology, enterprises participating in the crypto business mainly derive the following three innovative models, which reconstruct traditional business logic from different dimensions.

Blockchain-based transparent operational model. Enterprises achieve immutable and fully traceable operational data by tokenizing (RWA) key assets such as accounts receivable and supply chain invoices and putting them on the blockchain. This model transforms traditional closed financial audits into a "glass box" operation that is subject to market supervision around the clock, enhancing investor trust and significantly reducing compliance and audit costs.

Building an open ecological model for token economy. Enterprises actively open their business ecosystem to users and third-party developers by issuing ecological tokens (points, NFTs, or governance tokens) with specific rights. This not only quantifies user contributions and converts them into tradable assets but also attracts external resources to jointly build the ecosystem through an incentive-compatible token economic model, creating strong network effects and user stickiness.

Automated trading model relying on smart contracts. Enterprises combine AI with smart contracts to encode complex business logic (such as copyright dividends, supply chain settlements, trade finance) into automatically executed digital agreements. This model realizes the automation of business processes under the principle of "code is law," reducing reliance on intermediaries in traditional transactions, enhancing trading efficiency, and lowering operational risks and friction costs.

The above three modes may blend with each other in practice, or even merge all three together, depending on strategic needs.

3. Change the Valuation Reference Logic: From Traditional, Static to Technological, Dynamic

The linkage between cryptocurrencies and stocks can change the valuation reference logic of listed companies, shifting from static asset valuation to dynamic valuation, and moving from traditional industries to technology and smart industries.

In traditional valuation models, tangible assets and cash flows are the core reference points. The correlation between tokens and stocks introduces a value measurement standard in the crypto world. When a listed company constructs an ecosystem by issuing various tokens, its value growth more closely follows Metcalfe's Law — the network value is proportional to the square of the number of users, rather than the traditional assumption of linear growth.

The Tesla case perfectly illustrates the change in this valuation reference logic. Under the leadership of Elon Musk, Tesla has transformed the link between cryptocurrencies and stocks into a globally watched financial performance art and strategic practice. The company not only purchased Bitcoin and accepted Bitcoin payments, but Musk also directly influenced cryptocurrency prices through social media, which in turn fed back into Tesla's stock price.

Tesla's purchase of Bitcoin has been interpreted by the market as Tesla being not only an automobile company but also a technology investment company with foresight. This narrative has changed investors' valuation reference for the company, shifting from the traditional automobile manufacturer valuation logic to the technology ecosystem valuation logic.

IV. Changing the Logic of Value Formation: From Cycle Confirmation to Real-Time Discovery

**The linkage between coins and stocks may also change the logic of value formation, shifting from periodic confirmation to real-time price discovery. For example, when companies issue ecological tokens, every interaction of users—such as content creation, community promotion, or data contribution—is quantified into specific token rewards. This mechanism fundamentally transforms users from passive consumers into active participants and co-builders of the ecosystem. When users hold the tokens earned through their contributions, their interests are deeply tied to the prosperity of the ecosystem, significantly enhancing user engagement. More importantly, tokens serve as an intrinsic economic incentive tool that can continuously stimulate user participation and creativity, thereby aggregating into vast collective intelligence to jointly promote ecological innovation and development.

This fundamentally changes the traditional logic of value formation: the value of a business is no longer confirmed periodically by quarterly financial reports, but is continuously formed and discovered through user participation and contribution at every moment. The value and circulation status of tokens thus become a real-time "dashboard" for measuring the vitality of the business ecosystem and future growth potential.

5. Changing the Value Growth Logic: From Linear Growth to Ecological Synergy

The linkage between cryptocurrencies and stocks may also change the logic of value growth for listed companies, shifting from a relatively closed linear growth to a relatively open collaborative growth.

Traditional valuation models are often based on historical financial data and linear growth assumptions, but Web3 enterprises with active communities have their value growth more closely following Metcalfe's Law — the network value is proportional to the square of the number of users. When publicly listed companies establish a strong community ecosystem through crypto business and the issuance of multiple types of tokens, their customer acquisition costs significantly decrease, user stickiness increases, and lifetime value improves; these factors should all be reflected in the valuation multiples.

A case study of a Hong Kong technology company demonstrates the shift in this value growth logic. The company does not directly purchase cryptocurrencies as the parent entity, but rather makes large-scale investments in multiple mainstream cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects through its subsidiaries or affiliated investment funds. The investment direction is closely related to its core businesses (such as cloud services, gaming, and social media) and aims to build a future ecosystem. This "combination of virtual and real" ecological synergy story is more persuasive and sustainable than simply speculating on coins, because it changes the fundamental logic of value growth—from relying on internal resource accumulation to ecosystem value sharing.

Nasdaq has submitted a rule change application to the SEC, aiming to promote the trading of tokenized securities on its market, indicating that traditional financial giants are actively embracing the transformation of asset tokenization. It can be expected that as cryptocurrency regulation becomes increasingly clear, underlying technologies mature, and institutional adoption rates continue to rise, the model of coin-stock linkage may become more diverse and standardized, continuously evolving.

Of course, we need to see that when investors can directly purchase Bitcoin, they may be unwilling to pay an additional premium for companies holding Bitcoin. In other words, as market efficiency improves, the value formation logic of the coin-stock linkage may continuously evolve. One day in the future, the concept of coin-stock linkage will no longer be something that needs to be deliberately emphasized, but rather a natural and inevitable underlying rule in the new economic ecosystem.