CoinVoice has learned that Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer of the cryptocurrency venture capital firm Variant Fund, stated on social media, "The debate about tokens versus equity has only just begun. Many crypto projects were born during the era of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, when strong regulatory pressure forced development companies to direct almost all value toward equity rather than tokens. Now, the policy environment is changing, and new opportunities are emerging. It will take a lot of time and experimentation to understand how (or if) tokens and equity can work well together. This experimental period is starting right now."
I do not have a particular stance on the specifics of Aave, but I want to emphasize one point: clarity is always the most important. Token holders must clearly understand what they actually own, what they can control, and what they cannot control. The design space for token value capture is extremely broad, far exceeding traditional equity.
I believe that for quite a long time, it will be unlikely to form a standardized token model like stocks. We believe that tokens should carry on-chain value, while equity should carry off-chain value. The core innovation unlocked by tokens is self-sovereign ownership of digital property. Tokens allow holders to directly own and control on-chain infrastructure without relying on off-chain intermediaries.
On the other hand, off-chain value is different. Token holders cannot directly own or control off-chain income or assets; therefore, in most cases, this value should belong to equity, not tokens. Of course, other models may also work. Some projects may choose a single asset model with no equity at all; others may decide to treat their tokens as tokenized securities and apply the new rules that the SEC will develop for this market in the future.
