BigTime｜How Much is GSR Worth: Public Financial Clues, Valuation Multiples, and Its Boundaries

Research Scope: GSR Valuation Analysis (Public Clues) | Data Verification as of 2026-09-14 | BigTime focuses on market making, liquidity, and trading technology practices. The financial figures in this article are media-reported and unaudited; multiple calculations are for research illustration and do not constitute investment advice.

Key Points

• GSR's public financial clues include only FY24 (approximately $287 million in revenue, approximately $71 million in net profit, as reported by media) and a private equity round valuation of approximately $1 billion in May 2026.
• This translates to about a 14x FY24 price-to-earnings ratio and a 3.5x price-to-sales ratio; market-making revenue fluctuates with market conditions, and single fiscal year profits should be viewed through the lens of normalized earnings.
• The private equity price does not equal fair value or listing price; comparable crypto companies show polarizing listing performances, and valuation ranges provide more information than a single number.
• The first question when researching an unlisted company is usually: how much is it worth? GSR's answer consists of two public clues: a set of financial figures and a private equity pricing.

I. Public Financial Clues: A Set of Reported Figures

GSR has not published public financial reports. The currently available financial figures come from media reports at the time of Standard Chartered's investment: for the fiscal year ending June 2024 (FY24), revenue is approximately $287 million, and net profit is approximately $71 million (Ledger Insights, 2026-05-05, reported figures, unaudited). Other reports indicate that the company has been controlled by CNC Inversiones since 2021, with founder Cristian Gil holding approximately 72% (same source).

Before using this set of figures, it is important to clarify the reporting standards. The "transaction volume" of market makers is often mistakenly considered revenue: the former refers to the scale of transactions handled, while the latter must be confirmed according to contracts and accounting standards; profits must also account for hedging, financing, operations, and taxes. Misunderstanding these layers can lead to a significant misvaluation. GSR's $287M is based on revenue standards, and $71M is based on net profit standards; although unaudited, the standards themselves are clear and can serve as a starting point for research.

Another temporal discrepancy worth noting: GSR's FY24 ends in June 2024, which is over two years from now. This set of figures describes operations for that year, not the present.

II. How the $1B Valuation Was Formed

In May 2026, SC Ventures, a subsidiary of Standard Chartered, strategically invested in GSR, becoming its first external strategic shareholder, with a reported valuation of approximately $1 billion (Bloomberg reported via CoinDesk).

This is a private equity round pricing, and understanding it requires grasping three points. It is a minority equity transaction: the transfer of minority shares comes with terms and liquidity restrictions, and the transaction price does not equal the company's pricing in the public market. It is a negotiated result: the price includes expectations of strategic synergies, and Standard Chartered was also collaborating with multiple crypto institutions at the same time, which is not a market-driven auction. It has a timestamp: the pricing occurred after GSR acquired two companies and launched an ETF, and the market environment at that time may not be the same as now.

Thus, a more accurate reading of the $1B valuation is: in May 2026, a strategic investor was willing to buy minority shares of GSR at this price. It serves as a reference anchor, not a fair value conclusion.

III. Evaluating GSR with Multiples

With revenue, profit, and valuation in hand, two common multiples can be calculated (for research illustration, based on the aforementioned reported standards):

• Price-to-Earnings Ratio: $1B ÷ $71M ≈ 14x (FY24 net profit)
• Price-to-Sales Ratio: $1B ÷ $287M ≈ 3.5x (FY24 revenue)

We believe that a 14x price-to-earnings ratio is not considered aggressive among financial institutions, but this calculation assumes that FY24 profit can represent normal profitability. Market-making revenue fluctuates greatly with market conditions, and the sustainability of single fiscal year profits should be viewed with caution. This is also why serious valuations look at normalized earnings (averaged across cycles) rather than the best year's single point.

Comparing with recent crypto company listing prices, one can see how large the valuation discrepancies can be: Circle's IPO in June 2025 priced at a valuation of $6.2B, with a first-day increase of 168%; Bullish went public in August of the same year with a valuation of approximately $13.2B, seeing a first-day increase of 90%; Gemini listed in September of the same year with a target valuation of $3.1B, receiving 20 times oversubscription, but by July 2026, it had dropped approximately 89% from its first day. All are crypto infrastructure companies, yet their post-listing performances are vastly different. These cases cannot be retroactively applied to GSR: there is no conversion formula between private equity prices and listing prices; windows, circulation, and market sentiment all play a role. Their value lies in reminding us that when valuing such companies, ranges are more important than point values.

IV. Four Boundaries of Valuation Numbers

When using this set of numbers, there are four boundaries that must not be crossed:

1. Reporting Boundary: $287M and $71M are media-reported and unaudited; when citing, sources and reporting standards must be indicated, and they cannot be presented as company official disclosures.
2. Pricing Boundary: $1B is the price for minority equity in a private equity round, which does not equal fair value, let alone future listing prices; there is no basis for "estimating post-listing increases based on comparable companies."
3. Temporal Boundary: FY24 ends in June 2024. The market-making industry has since experienced a contraction in transaction volume and participant exit, so extrapolating current operations from old fiscal years requires caution.
4. Subject Boundary: Company valuation is a company-level matter. When participating through fund shares, investors receive rights as stipulated in fund documents, and fees, lock-up periods, and exit arrangements will all change the final outcome; a company's profitability does not equate to share profitability.

The fourth boundary is often overlooked and is also why understanding the equity structure is more important than understanding multiples.

V. Research Checklist: Assessing How Much a Market Maker is Worth

When evaluating the valuation of such companies, check each item:

Table 1｜Market Maker Valuation Checklist. Source: BigTime Research Compilation

GSR's position on this checklist: it has a cross-cycle operating history and multiple jurisdiction licenses, with bank-affiliated strategic shareholders, but its public financial standards remain at FY24's reported figures. Future points worth tracking include any form of information updates, new rounds of financing, audit disclosures, or publicly available operational data for product lines; each of these will change the inputs for valuation judgments.

Viewing GSR's public clues, multiples, and boundaries together is closer to the truth of this business than a single "$1B" headline. For a complete breakdown of this company, see "In-Depth Research on GSR: Why a Market Maker is Starting to Build the Crypto Capital Market?"; for industry landscape and peer comparisons, see "Crypto Market Making Industry Map: GSR and Its Competitors."

Risk Warning

The financial figures in this article are media-reported and unaudited; multiple calculations are based on single fiscal year data and private equity pricing, do not represent fair value, nor do they constitute a judgment on future listing pricing; valuation inputs may change significantly with updates in company information.

Data Note: Financial figures and valuations come from publicly reported sources cited in the article (media-reported and unaudited); multiple calculations and framework summaries are based on BigTime research analysis and do not constitute investment advice.

Disclaimer: This report is produced by BigTime Industry Research, compiled from public information, and does not constitute investment advice, offers, or profit guarantees; past performance does not represent future results. No part of this report may be reproduced or excerpted without written permission.