For months, sometimes years, the protocols operate in a controlled environment. Product decisions are iterative. Governance is flexible. Capital structures evolve privately.
A token launch changes that. Kraken 360 can help you.
The distribution becomes permanent. The design of the Treasury becomes visible. Governance begins to function under real participation and real capital.
The teams going through this period have managed to combine solid code and community dynamism with a clear operational strategy. They treat launch preparation like infrastructure design.
Through numerous launches, a pattern emerges:
Protocols that address the pre-TGE phase as foundational operational work execute more cleanly, attract longer-term institutional participation, and avoid costly restructuring later.
Those who squeeze critical decisions into the home stretch often introduce friction that escalates on a larger scale.
This article is the first part of a three-part playbook for protocol teams preparing for a public token generation event and institutional participation. It focuses on the foundations – the structural decisions that need to be considered months before the strike, when clarity increases and the optionality still exists.
We are not here to replace your lawyers or tax advisors. You need it. We share the operational perspective that comes from observing what actually makes things happen as protocols attempt to move from idea to genesis to growth.
1. Custody is your first real decision
Most founders underestimate the guard until it becomes a blocker.
You can have perfect tokenomics, audited contracts, and enthusiastic investors, but if your custody story doesn’t stand up to institutional due diligence, everything slows down or stops. Qualified custody from day zero enables regulatory alignment, enforces infrastructure-level holds, supports staking delegation, and signals seriousness to supporters and investors.
Some teams start with multisigs, aiming for speed. But as launch approaches, limitations emerge – from friction in key management to auditing complexities or institutional concerns over asset management. A qualified guard helps eliminate these risks, simplify operations and support the most important steps.
Start custody conversations early. Onboarding timelines vary (from a few weeks to a few months), and the sooner you bring on board a knowledgeable partner who understands token issuance, investor distributions, and staking/governance flows, the smoother the launch path.
2. From vision to legacy: your token design matters
A token without a clear purpose ends up creating confusion among users, investors, regulators and the team itself.
Token design goes beyond branding. It is an economic architecture. Decisions made here shape governance power, capital formation, user behavior, and long-term credibility.
Strong designs start with disciplined questions that help guide:
- What behaviors do we encourage?
- How do they aggravate network effects?
- Can this model survive multiple market cycles without being reworked?
Utility is table stakes. What differentiates resilient protocols is how their tokens support governance, capital formation, and long-term alignment.
Clarity here reduces downstream friction. Auditor delays are real. Early fundraising instruments such as SAFTs (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) or warrants can establish reference prices and tax implications that are difficult to unwind later.
A symbolic launch reflects the maturity of its design. When incentives, procurement mechanisms, governance and compliance considerations are aligned from the start, execution becomes cleaner and long-term flexibility remains intact to enable scalability.
3. Decentralization starts with distribution
Token distribution is one of the first and most visible signals of protocol maturity. This determines who holds influence, how governance occurs, and whether trust is built with contributors, users, and regulators over time.
Investors now expect:
- Transparent distribution of allocations (team, advisors, ecosystem, treasury, etc.)
- Acquisition schedules and cliffs aligned with actual contribution deadlines
- Application of blocking
The most credible configurations enforce distribution at the infrastructure level via qualified custody or smart contracts to prevent early unlocks and ensure compliance. This includes address verification, enforceable acquisition and distribution transparency.
Distribution is also a regulatory signal. U.S. regulatory commentary has consistently emphasized that true decentralization and protocol maturity can shape how tokens are valued under securities law.1
Decentralization is often considered through four operational dimensions:
- Development
Are new features, integrations and upgrades increasingly offered and created by third parties? Open grants and milestone funding are helpful here. - Governance
Are protocol decisions made through transparent, multi-stakeholder processes with well-defined access and quorum models? - Accumulation of value
Is economic value (e.g. rewards or protocol revenue) widely distributed or concentrated in a few hands? - Access
Can users around the world stake, vote and contribute with little friction and appropriate compliance measures?
A thoughtful distribution strategy is the starting point, but a credible decentralization roadmap is what builds confidence among users, investors and regulators.
4. Staking and governance cannot be implemented later
If staking or governance is critical to the security, utility, or roadmap of your protocol, it needs to be infrastructure ready before TGE.
This means much more than designing smart contracts. Institutional participants will not delegate to validators or vote through interfaces that expose them to major risks. Custodians need time to develop support for staking flows, delegation logic, and governance participation that meet operational and security standards.
The teams most ready to launch:
- Confirm support for staking delegation and recovery mechanisms
- Define how governance participation will work on-chain or through tools
- Ensure rewards and votes can be claimed without compromising custody or tax compliance
Delays in any of these systems after the TGE result in fire drills: Missed governance quorums, unused capital, or frustrated early supporters who cannot participate as planned.
Kraken 360 helps teams design and implement staking and governance systems that work from day one – integrated into custody, enforceable through infrastructure, and designed for long-term participation.
5. The preparation is not reactive
Token launches can feel like operational sprints. Treasury setup, fiduciary access, custody onboarding, investor onboarding, legal approvals, trade coordination, and communications all happen in sync, not in sequence.
In well-executed launches, five characteristics consistently appear:
- Unified Treasury Operations on fiat and cryptocurrencies, with capital positioned well ahead of unlock events
- Audit and Compliance Pathways that take place alongside development, not after
Investor Onboarding Infrastructure in place well before the distribution windows - Exchange integration and internal preparation mapped onto a coordinated launch schedule
- Staking and governance systems live and accessible from day one
Kraken 360 consolidates these elements into a single operational layer. Custody, fiat access, token distribution, investor compliance, and trade coordination are integrated from day zero. Protocols launch with greater visibility, fewer dependencies, and momentum that goes beyond the announcement.
Partner with an experienced practitioner
Kraken 360 exists for the moment when a protocol’s vision becomes an operational reality.
Custody. Treasury coordination. Programmatic distributions. Support for staking and governance. Global access infrastructure. All integrated into a single, crypto-native, compliance-aligned stack, purpose-built to support serious teams preparing for launch.
Kraken 360 replaces fragmented suppliers with coordinated infrastructure designed for precise execution and deep market experience. It’s infrastructure with perspective.
This is the first part, the foundation. Parts 2 and 3 will cover execution and expansion.
All of Kraken 360 supports our mission: Accelerating crypto adoption so everyone can achieve financial freedom and inclusion.
Kraken 360 is built for teams building that future.
Our dedicated team is ready to discuss how we can support your launch roadmap. Contact us now:
1 Peirce, Hester M. “Statement on Request for Information.” United States Securities and Exchange Commission, February 21, 2025,
Custody Services are provided by Payward Financial, Inc. or Payward Europe Solutions, Ltd, as applicable. Payward Financial, Inc. d/b/a Kraken Financial is not an FDIC-insured bank and deposits are neither insured by nor subject to the protections of the FDIC. Payward Europe Solutions Limited, trading as Kraken, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
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