IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfinec/v142y2021i3p1038-1067.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal financing with tokens

Author

Listed:
  • Gryglewicz, Sebastian
  • Mayer, Simon
  • Morellec, Erwan

Abstract

We develop a model in which a start-up firm issues tokens to finance a digital platform, which creates agency conflicts between platform developers and outsiders. We show that token financing is preferred to equity financing unless the platform expects strong cash flows, has large financing needs, or faces severe agency conflicts. Tokens are characterized by their utility features, facilitating transactions, and security features, granting cash flow rights. While security features trigger endogenous network effects and spur platform adoption, they also dilute developers’ equity stake and incentives so that the optimal level of security features decreases with agency conflicts and financing needs.

Suggested Citation

  • Gryglewicz, Sebastian & Mayer, Simon & Morellec, Erwan, 2021. "Optimal financing with tokens," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1038-1067.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:142:y:2021:i:3:p:1038-1067
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.05.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304405X21001860
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.05.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin William Cong & Zhiguo He & Jiasun Li & Wei Jiang, 2021. "Decentralized Mining in Centralized Pools [Concentrating on the fall of the labor share]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 1191-1235.
    2. Peter M. DeMarzo & Michael J. Fishman, 2007. "Optimal Long-Term Financial Contracting," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(6), pages 2079-2128, November.
    3. ., 2019. "The institutional economics of blockchain," Chapters, in: Understanding the Blockchain Economy, chapter 2, pages 15-36, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Sabrina T Howell & Marina Niessner & David Yermack & Jiang Wei, 2020. "Initial Coin Offerings: Financing Growth with Cryptocurrency Token Sales," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(9), pages 3925-3974.
    5. Hoffmann, Florian & Pfeil, Sebastian, 2021. "Dynamic multitasking and managerial investment incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 954-974.
    6. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2003. "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(4), pages 990-1029, June.
    7. Cong, Lin William & Li, Ye & Wang, Neng, 2022. "Token-based platform finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 972-991.
    8. Michael Sockin & Wei Xiong, 2020. "A Model of Cryptocurrencies," NBER Working Papers 26816, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Lin William Cong & Zhiguo He, 2019. "Blockchain Disruption and Smart Contracts," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(5), pages 1754-1797.
    10. Peter M. DeMarzo & Branko Uro, 2006. "Ownership Dynamics and Asset Pricing with a Large Shareholder," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(4), pages 774-815, August.
    11. Makarov, Igor & Schoar, Antoinette, 2020. "Trading and arbitrage in cryptocurrency markets," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100409, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Simon Board & Moritz Meyer‐ter‐Vehn, 2013. "Reputation for Quality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(6), pages 2381-2462, November.
    13. Bruno Biais & Christophe Bisière & Matthieu Bouvard & Catherine Casamatta, 2019. "The Blockchain Folk Theorem," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(5), pages 1662-1715.
    14. Matthias Doepke & Martin Schneider, 2017. "Money as a Unit of Account," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 1537-1574, September.
    15. Townsend, Robert M., 1979. "Optimal contracts and competitive markets with costly state verification," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 265-293, October.
    16. Richard Holden & Anup Malani, 2019. "The ICO Paradox: Transactions Costs, Token Velocity, and Token Value," NBER Working Papers 26265, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Douglas Gale & Martin Hellwig, 1985. "Incentive-Compatible Debt Contracts: The One-Period Problem," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 52(4), pages 647-663.
    18. Bolton, Patrick & Scharfstein, David S, 1990. "A Theory of Predation Based on Agency Problems in Financial Contracting," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 93-106, March.
    19. Makarov, Igor & Schoar, Antoinette, 2020. "Trading and arbitrage in cryptocurrency markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 293-319.
    20. Julien Hugonnier & Semyon Malamud & Erwan Morellec, 2015. "Capital Supply Uncertainty, Cash Holdings, and Investment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 391-445.
    21. Lin William Cong & Ye Li & Neng Wang, 2021. "Tokenomics: Dynamic Adoption and Valuation [The demand of liquid assets with uncertain lumpy expenditures]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 1105-1155.
    22. Peter M. Demarzo & Zhiguo He, 2021. "Leverage Dynamics without Commitment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(3), pages 1195-1250, June.
    23. Easley, David & O'Hara, Maureen & Basu, Soumya, 2019. "From mining to markets: The evolution of bitcoin transaction fees," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(1), pages 91-109.
    24. Christian Catalini & Joshua S. Gans, 2018. "Initial Coin Offerings and the Value of Crypto Tokens," NBER Working Papers 24418, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. PETER M. DeMARZO & YULIY SANNIKOV, 2006. "Optimal Security Design and Dynamic Capital Structure in a Continuous‐Time Agency Model," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2681-2724, December.
    26. Raghavendra Rau & Robert Wardrop & Luigi Zingales (ed.), 2021. "The Palgrave Handbook of Technological Finance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-65117-6, November.
    27. Athey, Susan & Parashkevov, Ivo & Sarukkai, Vishnu & Xia, Jing, 2016. "Bitcoin Pricing, Adoption, and Usage: Theory and Evidence," Research Papers 3469, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    28. Jiasun Li & William Mann, 2021. "Initial Coin Offerings: Current Research and Future Directions," Springer Books, in: Raghavendra Rau & Robert Wardrop & Luigi Zingales (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Technological Finance, pages 369-393, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuxuan Lu & Qian Qi & Xi Chen, 2023. "A Framework of Transaction Packaging in High-throughput Blockchains," Papers 2301.10944, arXiv.org.
    2. Anton Miglo, 2022. "Choice between IEO and ICO: Speed vs. Liquidity vs. Risk," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Kräussl, Roman & Tugnetti, Alessandro, 2023. "Non-fungible tokens (NFTs): A review of pricing determinants, applications and opportunities," CFS Working Paper Series 693, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    4. Anton Miglo, 2022. "Theories of Crowdfunding and Token Issues: A Review," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-28, May.
    5. Anton Miglo, 2023. "ICO vs. Equity Financing under Imperfect, Complex and Asymmetric Information," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Mayer, Simon, 2022. "Financing breakthroughs under failure risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 807-848.
    7. Kanis Saengchote, 2022. "Decentralized lending and its users: Insights from Compound," Papers 2212.05734, arXiv.org.
    8. Guangye Cao, 2024. "Token vs Equity for Startup Financing," Papers 2402.04662, arXiv.org.
    9. Andrea Canidio, 2023. "Auctions with Tokens: Monetary Policy as a Mechanism Design Choice," Papers 2301.13794, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    10. Saengchote, Kanis, 2023. "Decentralized lending and its users: Insights from compound," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. Cong, Lin William & Mayer, Simon, 2022. "The Coming Battle of Digital Currencies," Applied Economics and Policy Working Paper Series 320020, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    12. Evgeny Lyandres & Berardino Palazzo & Daniel Rabetti, 2022. "Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Success and Post-ICO Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8658-8679, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ye Li & Simon Mayer & Simon Mayer, 2021. "Money Creation in Decentralized Finance: A Dynamic Model of Stablecoin and Crypto Shadow Banking," CESifo Working Paper Series 9260, CESifo.
    2. Cong, Lin William & Li, Ye & Wang, Neng, 2022. "Token-based platform finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 972-991.
    3. Lin William Cong & Yizhou Xiao, 2021. "Categories and Functions of Crypto-Tokens," Springer Books, in: Maurizio Pompella & Roman Matousek (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of FinTech and Blockchain, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 267-284, Springer.
    4. Michael Sockin & Wei Xiong, 2021. "A Model of Cryptocurrencies," Working Papers 2021-67, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    5. Sokolov, Konstantin, 2021. "Ransomware activity and blockchain congestion," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 771-782.
    6. Hanna Halaburda & Guillaume Haeringer & Joshua Gans & Neil Gandal, 2022. "The Microeconomics of Cryptocurrencies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(3), pages 971-1013, September.
    7. Bruno Biais & Christophe Bisière & Matthieu Bouvard & Catherine Casamatta & Albert J. Menkveld, 2023. "Equilibrium Bitcoin Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(2), pages 967-1014, April.
    8. Cong, Lin William & Mayer, Simon, 2022. "The Coming Battle of Digital Currencies," Applied Economics and Policy Working Paper Series 320020, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    9. Hinzen, Franz J. & John, Kose & Saleh, Fahad, 2022. "Bitcoin’s limited adoption problem," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 347-369.
    10. Makarov, Igor & Schoar, Antoinette, 2021. "Blockchain analysis of the Bitcoin market," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118897, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Li Guo & Wolfgang Karl Hardle & Yubo Tao, 2018. "A Time-Varying Network for Cryptocurrencies," Papers 1802.03708, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.
    12. Chiu, Jonathan & Wong, Tsz-Nga, 2022. "Payments on digital platforms: Resiliency, interoperability and welfare," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    13. Patrick Bolton & Ye Li & Neng Wang & Jinqiang Yang, 2020. "Dynamic Banking and the Value of Deposits," NBER Working Papers 28298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Nicolás Magner & Nicolás Hardy, 2022. "Cryptocurrency Forecasting: More Evidence of the Meese-Rogoff Puzzle," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(13), pages 1-27, July.
    15. Luciano Somoza & Antoine Didisheim, 2022. "The End of the Crypto-Diversification Myth," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 22-53, Swiss Finance Institute.
    16. Gilles Hilary & Laura Xiaolei Liu, 2021. "Blockchain and Other Distributed Ledger Technologies in Finance," Springer Books, in: Raghavendra Rau & Robert Wardrop & Luigi Zingales (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Technological Finance, pages 243-268, Springer.
    17. Michael Sockin & Wei Xiong, 2023. "Decentralization through Tokenization," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(1), pages 247-299, February.
    18. Yuxuan Lu & Qian Qi & Xi Chen, 2023. "A Framework of Transaction Packaging in High-throughput Blockchains," Papers 2301.10944, arXiv.org.
    19. Dong, Bingbing & Jiang, Lei & Liu, Jinyu & Zhu, Yifeng, 2022. "Liquidity in the cryptocurrency market and commonalities across anomalies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Lin William Cong & Ye Li & Neng Wang, 2021. "Tokenomics: Dynamic Adoption and Valuation [The demand of liquid assets with uncertain lumpy expenditures]," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 1105-1155.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Coin offering; Security tokens; Optimal financing; Agency conflicts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:142:y:2021:i:3:p:1038-1067. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505576 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.