We started Bulletin with the aim of improving discoverability in the crypto secondaries market. Three months later and with over $140m in live trading interests, 70+ counterparty matches and a handful of deals completed or in final stages we like to think that we are on our way to making a (little) positive difference.

However, discoverability, or lack thereof, is only part of the problem with crypto secondaries. The other main issue is a lack of reliable valuation or pricing data. While this is no doubt an expected feature (bug?) of private markets more broadly, we do find that the problem is particularly pronounced in crypto private markets; where trying to find the fair market value of an asset can sometimes feel like a game of Chinese whispers.

The absence of reliable valuation data has far reaching consequences including (but not limited to):

• Wider bid-ask spreads → as a result of investors demanding higher returns to compensate for the additional uncertainty, complicating negotiations or potentially deterring investment altogether, which further exacerbates the original problem

• Difficulty in benchmarking → in the case of fund managers/GPs this means lack of accurate performance data, and for the companies themselves it results in difficulty in understanding their competitive positioning and determining their strategic direction

• Difficulty in determining the fair value of employee equity compensation → can lead to employee dissatisfaction and challenges in recruitment or retention efforts

• Inefficient capital allocation → promising ventures might not receive the funding they need, while less promising ones might attract more (speculative) attention and investment than warranted

While there is no quick and easy solution to these issues, we do believe that there is a way to meaningfully improve the outcome for all stakeholders and take another (big) step in creating a more transparent and efficient crypto private secondary market.

Bulletin Valuation is a new feature we are launching which aims to create the most comprehensive verified valuation database for private crypto companies.

Together with the help of our community we want to aggregate, index, verify and share any available valuation data on private crypto companies, including concluded secondary transactions, internal fund valuations and, where applicable, any fundraises.

The concept is simple; there is no access fee and submission of valuation data is entirely optional. While any data that is shared with us is validated (e.g. through fund financials, share transfer agreements, etc.) to ensure accuracy and confidentiality. Naturally, any sensitive information shared with us will be treated as such and not form part of the data recorded on the platform. Through this design we hope to encourage user participation whilst ensuring that the quality of our data and metrics remains high.

So whether you are a buyer/seller or broker that wants reliable pricing data for their OTC deal negotiations, an angel investor who wants to get a better idea of their portfolio value, or a fund manager who wants to see if their mark-to-market is indeed in-line with the market — we hope that all of these users, and many more, will find our database useful.

We are now accepting submissions for access to Bulletin Valuation (submission form) and look to go live in due course. As always we welcome any feedback or questions from the community and thank you for your continued support of Bulletin’s mission.

- David

*Image and all data contained therein are for illustrative purposes only