Coin-Stock Linkage: The New "Shell" of Web3 Projects

In the past year, more and more Web3 projects have begun to "enter" the traditional financial market. Instead of taking the slow lane of IPOs, they are opting for the capital shortcut of shell mergers and acquisitions. Whether it's Conflux injecting core assets through the Hong Kong-listed company Leading Medical, or Tron using the small-cap Nasdaq company SRM Entertainment to rebrand as "Tron Inc.", and Sui promoting U.S. companies to allocate a large amount of SUI Tokens for treasury management, this round of crypto world projects' "stock market path" is worth a closer look.

The so-called "coin-stock linkage" fundamentally refers to a new way of valuation realization for Web3 projects leveraging traditional capital markets. On one side, there is a rise in the enthusiasm of the token market, while on the other side, the stock market tells new stories based on themes. Under the resonance of the project parties, listed companies, and secondary market funds, a synchronous surge in coin prices and stock prices occurs in a short period. Taking Tron as an example, after the shell acquisition news was released, the SRM stock price rose over 300% within three days, while the TRX token also reached a yearly high under the stimulation of the news.

However, the linkage between coins and stocks is not just a capital operation game. From the perspective of project parties, this is a realistic choice. The Web3 industry is entering the "compliance era"; for projects to move out of the gray area, legal identity and financing capability have become crucial in addition to technology and ecology. Backdoor listing means obtaining a "shell" recognized by regulators, completing the connection to traditional markets in legal structure; at the same time, it also opens up greater space for financing, from equity financing and bond financing to token reserves on financial statements, traditional tools are being reactivated.

Conflux is a typical example. By injecting core blockchain assets through a shell company listed in Hong Kong, it is both an attempt at compliant implementation and a gamble under Hong Kong's "Web3-friendly policies". Tron takes a more aggressive approach, completing a backdoor listing during the gap when the SEC paused its lawsuit against the founder, and also applied for $1 billion in funding to increase its holdings in TRX. Meanwhile, Sui has taken a different path—directly investing in equity, with the Sui Foundation and its early investors jointly funding the purchase of over 76 million SUI Tokens from the Sui Foundation in the over-the-counter market, promoting the public company to hold coins directly, thus completing a legal "listing + coin holding" closed loop.

It is worth noting that this type of linkage model is spreading from leading public chains to more small and medium-sized projects and traditional listed companies. On one hand, project parties are seeking a more stable identity and more funding, while on the other hand, many companies with weak main businesses are actively telling stories about blockchain, AI, and Web3 in search of new valuation anchors. The Hong Kong market and the US stock market have started to see a surge of such cooperation news.

But rationally speaking, the linkage between coins and stocks is more like a structural market experiment. Its success lies not only in the rise of stock prices and the arrival of financing but also in whether the project can truly make good use of this set of traditional capital tools and move towards a commercially sustainable compliance path. If it only pushes the coin price through shell companies for a round, it will ultimately be seen through by the market.

For regulators, this also serves as a new window to observe the compliance process of the Web3 industry. Although the backdoor listing has avoided some regulatory thresholds, once issues related to public financing, significant information disclosure, and token financial statement valuation arise, new regulatory discussions will inevitably come. Moreover, how to balance innovation and compliance may be the core issue of this round of "entering the city" for the Web3 industry.