Token loan vs self-custody retainer
Two ways to get liquidity for your token. One hands your tokens to a market maker and hopes for the best. The other keeps them in your own accounts and pays an operator to run the software.
Token loan model | Self-custody retainer | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | You give the market maker a large token allocation for free. They use it as inventory and return it (minus options) after 12-24 months. | The liquidity stays in exchange accounts and wallets you own. You pay an operator a flat monthly fee to run open-source software on them, under parameters you approve, with every trade on a real-time dashboard. |
| Your tokens | Given away for free. In someone else's hands for the duration of the contract, used at their discretion. | Never leave your accounts. The operator's API keys can trade but not withdraw, and you can revoke them at any time. |
| Incentive alignment | The MM profits from the option and from managing inventory they got for free. Their upside isn't directly tied to your market quality. | The operator earns a flat fee for running the software well. No option, no inventory, no position in your token. |
| Transparency | Usually a monthly report. What happens between reports is often a black box. | Real-time dashboard. Every position, trade, and rebalance visible as it happens. |
| Sell pressure risk | The MM may hedge by shorting your token, or exercise options into sell pressure. You might not know it's happening. | The operator holds none of your token and has nothing to hedge. Every sale comes from your own approved configuration, visible on your dashboard. |
| Contract flexibility | Typically 12-24 month lock. Hard to exit early without losing the loaned tokens or paying penalties. | Monthly engagement. Scale up, scale down, or stop when you need to. |
| Upfront cost | Looks free (no cash), but you're giving away tokens that could be worth significantly more over time. | Fixed monthly fee. Predictable, budgetable, no hidden costs. |
| Best for | Very early projects with no budget and no other options. | Any project with treasury, funding, or revenue that wants custody, control and transparency. |
How it works
You give the market maker a large token allocation for free. They use it as inventory and return it (minus options) after 12-24 months.
The liquidity stays in exchange accounts and wallets you own. You pay an operator a flat monthly fee to run open-source software on them, under parameters you approve, with every trade on a real-time dashboard.
Your tokens
Given away for free. In someone else's hands for the duration of the contract, used at their discretion.
Never leave your accounts. The operator's API keys can trade but not withdraw, and you can revoke them at any time.
Incentive alignment
The MM profits from the option and from managing inventory they got for free. Their upside isn't directly tied to your market quality.
The operator earns a flat fee for running the software well. No option, no inventory, no position in your token.
Transparency
Usually a monthly report. What happens between reports is often a black box.
Real-time dashboard. Every position, trade, and rebalance visible as it happens.
Sell pressure risk
The MM may hedge by shorting your token, or exercise options into sell pressure. You might not know it's happening.
The operator holds none of your token and has nothing to hedge. Every sale comes from your own approved configuration, visible on your dashboard.
Contract flexibility
Typically 12-24 month lock. Hard to exit early without losing the loaned tokens or paying penalties.
Monthly engagement. Scale up, scale down, or stop when you need to.
Upfront cost
Looks free (no cash), but you're giving away tokens that could be worth significantly more over time.
Fixed monthly fee. Predictable, budgetable, no hidden costs.
Best for
Very early projects with no budget and no other options.
Any project with treasury, funding, or revenue that wants custody, control and transparency.
Our take
We work exclusively on retainer, and we are not your market maker. You own the accounts and the capital and approve every parameter; we set up, operate and monitor open-source software on them. No token loans, no options, no custody, no trading for our own account. You see everything the software does in real time.