GSR: market maker deal terms and record
GSR is the only major crypto market maker with a fully public price: a $100,000 setup fee and a $20,000 monthly retainer in its 2022 Stake DAO proposal. Its 2022 Stargate deal borrowed 8M STG with a European call option, and in 2026 Ethos Network disclosed a GSR token loan with a call option.
No legal action foundPublic deals on record: 3. · Official site
Profile
| Headquarters | London |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Deal models | setup fee + retainer + loan |
| Exchange coverage | 60+ |
| Notes | Only major MM with a fully public price point (Stake DAO governance proposal). FINRA broker-dealer registration approved June 2026. |
Source: www.spark.money, grade 3, checked 2026-09-10.
Public deals
Stake DAO, 2022
| Structure | setup fee + retainer + loan |
| Size | $1,000,000 in BTC/ETH |
| Term | 12-24 months |
| Option | not disclosed in proposal summary |
| Setup fee | $100,000 |
| Retainer | $20,000 a month |
| Details | Publicly posted governance proposal with full commercial terms - the cleanest fully-disclosed MM price point found. |
| Source | DAO governance post, grade 5, primary document, checked 2026-09-10 |
Stargate (STG), 2022
| Structure | loan + European call option |
| Size | 8,000,000 STG |
| Term | 24 months |
| Option | European option to buy the full amount at an average price above $1.15 |
| Details | European (not American) exercise: materially better for the issuer. Regraded 5 to 4 on 13 Sep 2026: the original Stargate governance post could not be located; terms recorded from the Wallfacer DAO Deal Tracker. |
| Source | Deal tracker, grade 4, checked 2026-09-13 |
Ethos Network (WHUF), 2026
| Structure | token loan + call option |
| Size | 100,000 WHUF |
| Term | 18 months |
| Option | call option, terms in filing |
| Details | Disclosed by the project in a Blockworks Token Transparency filing; a second desk (Tophash) received the same structure for 12 months. |
| Source | Project disclosure, grade 4, checked 2026-10-16 |
How market-maker deals usually look
The industry default is a token loan plus a call option. Across about 40 public DAO deals, loans ran at 1% to 5% of circulating supply for 12 to 24 months, with the strike set 25% to 100% above the TGE price, median 50% (WuBlockchain and the Wallfacer deal tracker, grade 4). A second source puts loans at 0.5% to 2% of supply; we show both, because the market has no agreed norm.
Want to see what an option is worth to the desk? Try the option calculator, or read our sample term sheet review. How rarely launches disclose these deals at all: 4 of 57.
Offered terms by GSR or another desk? We put your term sheet next to the public deals, value the option and list the clauses to negotiate, in writing within 48 hours.
Allegations are reported as allegations, with the outcome where one exists. A written comparison against public data, not legal or investment advice. We take no money from market makers.