Greg Cipolaro, head of research at NYDIG, has called on the crypto industry to stop using the “market-to-net-asset value” ratio (mNAV).
On September 26, he said the figure does not give investors an accurate picture and should be removed from common use.
Cipolaro explained that mNAV was first introduced as a way to compare a company’s market value with the size of its digital asset holdings. He argued that this does not help investors understand the business much.
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Many firms that keep large amounts of cryptocurrency also run other activities, such as selling products or offering services, which mNAV leaves out. As a result, the number can hide important details about how those companies actually operate.
He also pointed to problems with how mNAV handles debt that can later be turned into shares. The ratio often assumes these debts have already been converted into stock, which is not the case.
Lenders can instead ask for repayment in cash, which creates a much heavier financial burden than simply issuing new shares.
For years, traders have used mNAV to decide if a firm looks “cheap” or “expensive” compared with the cryptocurrencies it holds. Companies priced below their crypto reserves were thought to trade at a discount, while those priced above were seen as trading at a premium.
As an alternative, he advises investors to examine the net asset value itself, how much digital asset ownership each share represents, along with how companies manage their assets and generate returns.
Recently, CryptoQuant warned that crypto treasury companies that turned to private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing could face share declines. How? Read the full story.
