Crypto Pure Play to Uplist to NASDAQ
Research Report

DeFi Technologies Inc. (DEFT:NASDAQ; DEFI:CBOE; R9B:FSE) is to start trading on the NASDAQ under ticker symbol DEFT on May 12, reported Ed Engel, analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading, in a May 11 research note. The investment firm raised its price target on DeFi to reflect higher crypto prices.

"After trading OTC as DEFTF and as DEFI in Canada since 2020, we expect the U.S. uplisting to increase awareness for this pure-play crypto stock," Engel wrote.

DeFi is a fintech company affording traditional investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of digital assets in the decentralized finance and Web3 sector. It gets 6%-plus management and staking fees on exchange-traded products (ETP) assets under management (AUM). The firm's EBITDA margins are 75% and higher.

63% Implied Return

Compass Point's new price target on DeFi is US$6.50 per share, up from US$5, still conservative, Engel wrote. Thus, further improvement in crypto markets will mean additional upside to Compass Point's forecasts and price target.

At the time of his report, Engel reported that DeFi was trading at about US$3.98 per share, at 10x EBITDA and thus at a discount to its pure-play crypto peers, including Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN:NASDAQ) and Exodus Movement Inc. (EXOD:NYSE.American), trading at 20–25x EBITDA.

Compass Point's new target price implies a 63% return for investors. DeFi remains a Buy.

Also at the time of the analyst's report, the digital assets company had 327.1 million shares outstanding. Its market cap was US$1.3 billion. Its 52-week range was US$0.55–3.94 per share.

AUM Reflects Rising Prices

DeFi's NASDAQ listing coincides with a rebound in crypto prices, Engel noted. For instance, BTC (Bitcoin) and SOL (Solana) are up 11% and 20% month to date, respectively. As such, DeFi's AUM is increasing. Reportedly, it was US$715 million (US$715M) on April 30 and is up 20% so far in May.

"Based on current crypto prices, we estimate DeFi's total AUM is over US$875M, with 29% of it in BTC ETPs and 30% of it in SOL ETPs.

Meanwhile, ETP inflows between Jan. 1 and April 30 were positive each month and totaled US$59M. Of this amount, US$8M happened in April.

Signs of Recovery in Q2/25

Crypto markets appear to be starting to rebound. Despite their recent rally, crypto traders remain underleveraged, "which offers upside potential if traders lever up in a risk-on environment," Engel wrote.

Also of note, according to the analyst, BTC's underlying supply dynamics are improving as short-term holders return to profitability and long-term holders continue to HODL (hold on for dear life). Historically, when BTC nears new highs, Altcoin prices gain momentum. This is good for DeFi because about 70% of its AUM is in Altcoins.

Recent Arbitrage Trade

DeFi disclosed a US$22M trading profit on May 5, Engel reported. On trades like this made by the DeFi Alpha trading desk, Compass Point estimates a 75%-plus contribution margin. As for DeFi Alpha trading profits, corporate guidance for 2025 is about CA$120M; last year's revenue was CA$132M.

In late Q1/25, management discussed possible near-term arbitrage purchases of locked or staked tokens at significant discounts to spot prices, so Compass Point expects DeFi to announce further DeFi Alpha trading profits in Q2/25 and Q3/25.