Michael Ippolito, co-founder of Blockworks, presents at the Digital Asset Summit in New York to announce the launch of Blockworks Investor Relations platform. The presentation addresses a critical disconnect in crypto markets: while institutional adoption surges and regulatory sentiment improves, token performance remains severely depressed.

Ippolito reveals that despite the 'institutional bull market,' the average token price has declined 80% over recent years, even as on-chain revenue reaches record levels. He attributes this to a fundamental trust problem between investors and token projects, caused by poor information transparency and lack of standardized reporting.

The solution presented is Blockworks IR, a comprehensive platform that combines data analytics, branded investor portals, and advisory services. The platform launches with BNB and Jito as inaugural clients, aiming to transform how on-chain businesses communicate with investors by leveraging the inherent transparency of blockchain data.

The Token Performance Crisis Hidden Behind Market Optimism

While total crypto market cap appears healthy, the average token price has declined 80% when adjusted for token supply inflation and the 35 million new tokens created since 2020.

"The institutional bull market is here, it is real, and it also has not come for your tokens" - Michael, highlighting the disconnect between institutional adoption and token performance.

The relationship between on-chain revenue and token price broke in 2025, with record revenue generation failing to drive price appreciation.

Root Causes of the Crypto Trust Problem

Market issues include too many tokens creating fragmented liquidity, unclear value accrual mechanisms, and extremely low barriers to token creation.

Information problems stem from missing or incomplete data, complete absence of disclosure requirements, and lack of standardized regular reporting that investors can rely on.

"Investors have been burned too many times around a project which actually has sound fundamentals, but their inflation schedule is nuts" - Michael, explaining how poor transparency breaks trust.

Blockworks IR Platform Launch and Features

The platform provides a three-part stack: professional data services, quarterly reports and IR calls, and an end-to-end IR management cockpit.

BNB and Jito serve as inaugural clients for the platform, which creates standardized investor-facing websites similar to traditional public company IR pages.

Future features include investor engagement analytics, stakeholder intelligence, and a Blockworks agent to compress IR expertise into an automated solution at a fraction of traditional costs.

The Opportunity to Surpass Traditional Finance

Public company costs have quadrupled to $2.2 million annually for auditing and compliance, while the number of public companies has halved over 20 years.

"90% of your operating and financial history exists live on-chain transparently" - Michael, emphasizing crypto's inherent advantage over traditional finance.

Vlad Tenov's quote captures the current problem: "When I listened to my own company's investor presentation, I was bored. And if I was bored, then everyone is bored."

Vision for Proactive Investor Relations

Future IR will be measured by token holder growth and investor network expansion rather than compliance box-checking and defensive presentations.

"A year from now, the equivalent of GTC for NVIDIA, protocols and exchanges in this space are going to do that" - Michael, predicting major industry events focused on protocol showcases.

The new model will leverage IRL experiences, social media, live updating data, and engaging personalities rather than "stale Zoom calls attended by 37 people."