TL; DR:
- The execution window between private money and public TGE determines whether a token launch builds long-term credibility or creates avoidable risk. Custody coordination, trade preparation, market maker agreements, communications discipline, audit verification and blocking enforcement do not occur sequentially. They move in parallel and gaps in one area can destabilize the entire launch.
- Kraken 360 is designed for this phase. It unifies custody, staking, liquidity coordination, compliance, token management and distribution in a single institutional frameworkhelping protocol teams move from private issuances to public markets with operational control and regulatory alignment.
- This game manual describes the five pillars of execution that shape launch results: structuring currency and valuation properly, preparing for exchange listing requirements, formalizing market maker commitments, implementing disciplined communications, and enforcing blocking and auditing standards. Teams that treat this window as infrastructure rather than optics run a cleaner, protect cash integrity, and position themselves to sustained institutional participation.
From planning to execution: what the pre-TGE window really requires
Custody coordination, trade preparation, liquidity arrangements, infrastructure strengthening, and investor allocation are not happening in order. They work in parallel and depend on each other.
Kraken 360 exists for the moment. It extends Kraken’s institutional infrastructure to protocol teams – coordinating custody, staking, liquidity, compliance, token management and distribution on a single integrated platform. The result: cleaner launches, tighter cash flow controls, and a more stable basis for long-term institutional participation.
This article details the five areas of execution that determine whether your TGE goes smoothly – and what it takes to get each one perfect.
1. Understand the difference between typing and your TGE – then plan accordingly
Typing and a token generation event are not the same step, and confusing the two is one of the most common runtime errors.
Struck This is when your tokens are born and is usually a private event, coordinated between the protocol team and a qualified custodian, often months before any public activity. TGE This is when tokens are revealed and distributed to stakeholders, and the token becomes publicly available.
After a private currency, many teams work with an independent third-party token valuation company to establish fair market value and help provide restricted token rewards to team members. This valuation must reflect a true illiquid fair market value prior to marketing and most structures require a cooling off period of more than 90 days before any public launch. Missing this step can create downstream tax exposure for your team and complicate distributions to investors.
Key questions to answer before your private workshop:
- Is your qualified custodian ready to receive tokens at Genesis?
- Have you finalized the allocation structure for all stakeholder categories?
- Is legal and tax advice aligned with grant issuance mechanisms and structure?
- Have you hired a reputable company for an independent evaluation of the tokens after creation?
Kraken 360 coordinates all of your infrastructure needs so your mint and TGE is a controlled, sequenced event, not a rush.
2. Trade Readiness: How Ads Really Work
Being listed on a major exchange is not a function of community dynamics or size. This is a compliance and operations process with real deadlines and real consequences for teams that arrive unprepared. Most underestimate registration times by two to three months.
What exchange teams will ask for:
- Smart contract audited with public report
- Symbolic legal notice or classification note
- Wallet integration documentation
- Confirmed Market Maker Agreement(s)
- Institutional distribution plan and evidence of blocking application
- Public relations and communications plan aligned with the listing announcement
If your technical documentation, compliance documents, or liquidity agreements are not in order when you enter the process, you wait. Kraken 360 includes exchange integration as part of its launch infrastructure – with direct coordination throughout Kraken’s listing process from day one.
3. Market Makers: Structure the Relationship Before You Need It
Liquidity does not arise because demand exists. From day one, your token needs active market making, otherwise it will face wide spreads and volatility that harm long-term credibility before you have a chance to build it.
What needs to be confirmed before the TGE:
- At least one lead market maker with a launch day stock commitment
- Spread and depth obligations specified in writing
- Loan/custody structure reviewed by legal counsel
- Coordination between market maker, exchange and custodian confirmed
Founders’ stories of launch day liquidity issues almost always trace back to deals that weren’t specific enough, confirmed too late, or poorly coordinated with the exchange’s schedule. Kraken 360 maintains relationships with institutional-level regulated market participants and helps teams structure these deals as part of an integrated launch plan.
4. Communications: you are now visible to the public
Once your token exists: even in private — your communication posture changes. A single misrepresentation by a founder or executive before TGE can create regulatory exposure and undermine investor confidence before the token reaches the public market.
A disciplined communications strategy for the execution phase should cover:
- A strict internal policy on what can and cannot be said publicly about the token – by management, team members and advisors – before TGE
- Targeted communications to key stakeholders (investors, major beneficiaries) regarding custody arrangements, staking access times and distribution logistics
- A coordinated sequence of partner announcements and exchanges, not ad hoc disclosures
- A launch day checklist: blog, social media, PR, community channels (Discord, Telegram), and a staffing plan for incoming questions
Think of communications as infrastructure. The protocols that run cleanly on launch day repeated the message as thoroughly as the launch mechanisms.
5. Lockdown Enforcement and Audits: Credibility You Can’t Modernize
The first part explained how to enforce blocks at the infrastructure level through qualified custody or audited smart contracts. Here’s why the stakes of a mistake go beyond operations.
Inconsistent lockdown enforcement is a signal of trust and regulation. If insiders such as employees, advisors, or investors operate on different vesting timelines or the application is unclear, this may create unpredictable incentives and potentially trigger regulatory review to determine whether the token reflects a coordinated distribution designed to benefit insiders. Regulators and institutional investors are both taking notice.
The same principle applies to security audits. An audit is a public commitment with standards:
- Commit early. Audit backlogs are real. Large companies have queues lasting several months. If you wait two months before starting TGE, you are already late.
- Check the correction. All high severity and critical findings must be resolved and verified by the auditor before proceeding. Don’t launch with open issues.
- Publish the report. A final audit report published with your token contract is one of the clearest credibility signals available for a protocol. Holding it back creates suspicion.
- Share the results with your community. How you talk about your audit (what was discovered, how it was handled, what it means for protocol security) demonstrates the maturity of your team. Transparency here builds long-term trust.
Kraken 360 helps teams coordinate the compliance, delivery, and retention layers that support both lockdown enforcement and audit-aligned release timelines — so credibility is built in from the start, not readjusted after the fact.
The execution window is over — use it deliberately
Custody integration, trade preparation, market maker coordination, infrastructure, and investor onboarding all work in parallel and depend on each other. This is where the power of Kraken 360 comes from. By combining and consolidating these execution layers into a single, coordinated stack, protocol teams reduce their operational dependencies and hit the ground running with confidence.
The third part will cover the rest: supporting the growth of TGE and TVL.
Geographic restrictions apply.
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.
