The purpose of a structured product is to deliver customised outcomes that traditional instruments like stocks, bonds, or ETFs cannot easily provide. Stocks and ETFs offer direct market exposure, while bonds provide predictable income but limited flexibility. Structured products combine elements of both, allowing investors to balance protection, yield, and upside potential. 

At their simplest, structured products are built from two components: a bond, which underpins capital preservation, and an option, which shapes the payoff by adding upside participation. In more complex structures, they can embed derivatives such as futures, options, or swaps linked to crypto or traditional asset classes, making it possible to customise exposure, limit downside, or enhance potential returns. 

In the case of crypto, investors can participate in the asset class without holding wallets or coins directly, but with more control over how much risk they assume and what kind of payoff they target.  

(For a refresher on how structured products are built, see Structured Products In Focus: What Are They For?) 

What are the different types of Crypto Structured Products?

Crypto structured products are designed to meet a range of investment objectives, from generating income to protecting capital or managing volatility. Some of the most common categories include: 

• Fixed Yield Strategies – These are aimed at investors who prioritise predictable income. They typically pay a set coupon over a defined period, sometimes with little or no dependence on the direction of crypto prices. This makes them attractive for those who want exposure to the asset class while minimising uncertainty in returns. 

• Principal-Protected Notes (PPNs) – Designed for more cautious investors, PPNs safeguard part or all of the invested principal while still offering upside exposure to cryptocurrencies. They are often used as an entry point for those new to digital assets who want to participate in potential gains without being fully exposed to the downside. 

• Autocallable Structures – These offer potentially higher yields by paying regular coupons as long as the underlying crypto remains above certain levels. If favourable conditions are met, the product may “autocall,” meaning it ends early and returns capital plus coupons. They appeal to investors willing to take conditional downside risk in exchange for higher returns. 

• Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) – Sometimes called rules-based strategies, these are algorithm-driven solutions designed to optimise performance across different market conditions. QIS allow investors to access specific investment opportunities, whether long-only (smart beta) or absolute return (risk premia), in a transparent way, without the need to trade the underlying assets directly.
  

• Portfolio Hedging Solutions – These are used by investors or corporates who already hold crypto assets and need to manage volatility or reduce downside risk. Hedging structures can limit losses in volatile markets, making them a valuable tool for miners, treasuries, or funds that rely on digital assets for revenue or balance sheet strength.

Who might consider investing in a crypto structured product?

Over the last few years, the crypto market has matured beyond short-term speculative trading. More investors, from private individuals to institutions, are now looking for ways to integrate digital assets into broader investment portfolios. One area gaining momentum is crypto-linked structured products, which use tools from traditional finance to manage risk and customise exposure. 

• New Market Entrants – Individuals who are new to crypto may use structured products to gain exposure without handling wallets or navigating exchanges. These solutions offer a controlled way to participate in digital-asset markets. 

• Institutional Investors & Asset Allocators – Hedge funds, family offices, and pension funds may use structured products to access crypto within structures already aligned to their operational, regulatory, and portfolio-construction frameworks. They also support diversification without requiring direct custody of digital assets. 

• Private Banks & Wealth Managers – These institutions can offer clients crypto-linked opportunities through defined-outcome products, without needing deep in-house expertise across trading, custody, or market infrastructure. 

Why or How Institutions Use Structured Products in Crypto

As the crypto market has matured, institutional investors are increasingly seeking ways to integrate digital assets into broader portfolios without relying on speculative trading or direct coin ownership. Structured products, long established in traditional finance, now provide a familiar framework for doing so. They allow institutions to define risk parameters and structure return outcomes, diversify exposures, and access the asset class within frameworks they already understand.

For many institutions, the appeal lies in operational efficiency and risk management. Most crypto structured products settle in USD, avoiding the custody and security challenges of holding tokens directly. At the same time, they can reduce counterparty and credit risk by using established financial market infrastructure. In practice, this means investors can apply proven techniques from equities, rates, and commodities markets to digital assets, gaining exposure through well-defined outcomes rather than simple spot positions.

Key Advantages of Structured Products in Crypto

Structured products offer several advantages that make them especially useful for institutional investors entering or expanding their presence in the digital asset space:

The Bigger Picture

As the crypto market continues to evolve, structured products and crypto derivatives are increasingly being used to support a shift from short-term trading towards longer-term, strategic investment. More institutional investors are exploring alternatives beyond traditional ETFs, seeking solutions that offer greater control over risk and return. 

Across the market, there is growing recognition that crypto structured products offer a disciplined way to access digital assets, using familiar frameworks such as defined payoffs, capital protection and transparent pricing rather than speculative exposure. Many issuers now design these products to settle in USD, helping to eliminate the custody and operational challenges that once limited participation. 

Education and transparency are also key drivers of adoption. Tools such as digital term sheets, scenario analysis and visual payoff illustrations are helping investors better understand return profiles and risk parameters, supporting broader confidence in the asset class. 

That said, no investment is ever completely risk-free, and this applies equally to crypto structured products. All investments involve the potential for loss, and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Key points to keep in mind include

Crypto structured products continue to play an important role in the market’s maturation, offering a risk-defined, transparent and operationally efficient framework for investors seeking to participate in the digital-asset economy with confidence and control.

If you are interested in understanding more about the types of approaches available for digital asset exposure, our team would be pleased to discuss this with you.

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But Ilan Solot, Senior Global Markets Strategist at Marex Solutions, said Bitcoin is “an asset in search of a valuation model”, adding that “there’s no clear consensus” on what should drive its price.

Read full article here

The discussion spanned across equities, crypto and rates, highlighting how lessons learnt in one market increasingly apply to others, before discussing some most recent developments in cross asset portfolio construction.

When Models Fail, Markets Teach

Walter and Artur began by reflecting on the post-Global Financial Crisis environment, where equity and credit markets exposed a critical flaw in many pre-2008 models: they underestimated extreme outcomes.

The key lesson was not theoretical elegance, but empirical consistency. Models must reflect how volatility actually behaves in stressed markets, not how it is assumed to behave. This shift in thinking ultimately shaped a more robust stochastic volatility framework, the log-normal beta stochastic volatility model, developed by Artur with Piotr Karasinski, and improved structured product design.

Crypto as a New Volatility Paradigm

Around 2020–2021, crypto forced another rethink.

Unlike equities, crypto typically displays positive correlation between price moves and volatility, with demand for options rising during rallies rather than sell-offs. With little academic research available, traditional financial models had to be adapted to a market driven by participation, positioning, and network effects.

The conclusion was clear: crypto volatility is less about pure price risk and more about liquidity, structure, and interconnected behaviour. As a result, institutional investors have typically approached crypto through market-neutral, carry, yield, and relative-value strategies rather than outright directional exposure, a trend Marex Financial Products continues to see today.

When Rates Started Behaving Like Crypto

The inflation shock of 2022–2023 marked another regime shift.

As rates rose sharply, rate volatility increased alongside them, breaking assumptions embedded in many traditional interest rate models. Mathematical conditions that once held no longer applied, precisely when demand for protection surged.

This episode mirrored dynamics previously observed in crypto, reinforcing a central theme of the discussion: volatility regimes can migrate across asset classes, and frameworks developed for one market may become critical in another.

From Asset Allocation to Implementation

The conversation also challenged the idea that asset allocation alone drives outcomes.

While strategic allocation defines risk tolerance, alpha increasingly comes from implementation, including instrument selection, structuring, and robust risk modelling. This is especially relevant as portfolios incorporate more alternatives, private assets, and derivatives.

Walter and Artur discussed the importance of accounting for smoothing, hidden leverage, and liquidity mismatches, particularly in private markets, where reported volatility often understates true risk. This thinking underpins Artur’s ROSAA framework for robust portfolio optimization, recently published in the Journal of Portfolio Management.

The discussion also touched another research area covered by Artur highlighting the benefits of including digital assets in an institutional portfolio.

Looking Ahead: Regimes, Data and Adaptation

Looking forward, the discussion turned to regime detection and alternative data.

Rather than relying solely on historical time series, future portfolio frameworks are likely to incorporate flow data, positioning, macro signals, and cross-asset information. The objective is not perfect foresight, but faster adaptation as markets transition between regimes.

A Cross-Asset View of Volatility

What made this fireside chat at Europe EQD 2026 distinctive was its cross-asset perspective. From equities to crypto to rates, the discussion showed how volatility, behaviour, and risk are increasingly interconnected.

For institutional investors, the message was clear: in markets where regimes shift quickly and assumptions break down, robust models, empirical discipline, and thoughtful implementation matter more than ever.

Interested in exploring how Marex Financial Products supports institutional clients across volatility, structuring and risk management?

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Ilan described how the link between traditional financial markets and crypto continues to grow as derivatives, tokenised products and institutional frameworks develop. He also addressed the increasing importance of market access, clearing arrangements and risk management tools as institutional participation broadens, influencing how firms assess liquidity, pricing and execution across exchanges and OTC markets. 

The discussion also outlined Marex’s role across the digital asset value chain, including structured products, liquidity provision, execution, OTC derivatives, treasury services, prime brokerage and clearing. Marex Clearing supports connectivity to more than 60 exchanges around the world, including LCH/IRS. Ina Pătrașcu from Marex Clearing helped coordinate Marex’s participation at the event and contributed to discussions relating to the firm’s clearing capabilities. 

Ilan closed the discussion with observations on how these combined macro and structural trends may shape market conditions heading into 2026. 

Learn More About Our Digital Asset Offering

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation. Views are based on conditions at the time of writing and may change. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Rather than focusing solely on price action, the conversation explored how investors have historically behaved during periods of volatility and how attitudes have evolved as the market has matured. The panel also discussed how instruments with predefined parameters are viewed in such environments, recognising that approaches differ widely depending on individual circumstances and risk considerations.

The discussion then moved to Digital Asset Treasury companies such as MicroStrategy, whose leveraged exposure to Bitcoin has drawn attention to questions around liquidity management and how corporate strategies interact with market cycles. Stablecoins also featured, particularly their role in transactions and settlement, as well as the broader interest generated by their substantial holdings of short-dated government bonds. 

Regulatory developments, especially in the United States, formed another central theme, with reflections on how increased clarity may influence institutional planning even though the longer-term effects remain uncertain. The availability of regulated instruments such as ETFs and futures was mentioned as part of the broader infrastructure now used when structuring digital asset-linked products. 

The session closed with a broad look at factors that may shape sentiment over time—from institutional engagement to regulatory evolution and macroeconomic conditions—without taking a view on future price movements. Overall, the forum offered a timely snapshot of how the digital asset landscape is evolving and how different market participants are approaching current developments.

Moderated by Drew Robinson, Co-Head of EMEA Institutional at Coinbase, the panel also featured Dan Moczulski, UK Managing Director at eToro, and Ovie Faruq, Co-Founder and CEO of Rekt Brands. Together, they explored how established market practices and new technologies are converging to shape the next wave of financial innovation.

The shift toward institutional adoption

Nilesh noted that while crypto began as a largely retail-driven market, it has steadily evolved toward greater institutional participation. Over the past 12 to 18 months, there has been growing demand for institutional-grade products, including derivatives, structured investments, and lending mechanisms, that mirror established financial tools and help improve capital efficiency across digital assets. 

“We’re bringing the tools we’ve refined over decades in TradFi to help an increasingly institutional Digital Assets client set,” he said

He explained that this transition isn’t about replicating traditional finance but rather adapting its best practices to meet the unique characteristics of digital assets, from volatility and liquidity management to the need for robust infrastructure.

The importance of risk management and regulation

The discussion also addressed how capital efficiency, and innovation must progress alongside responsible risk management. Nilesh emphasised that as markets evolve, maintaining financial discipline and clear governance structures will be essential to supporting long-term growth. 

He reflected on how regulation continues to influence the pace of development across different regions. While London remains a hub of crypto talent and innovation, emerging regulatory clarity in jurisdictions such as the U.S. is shaping how institutions approach digital asset markets. These changes are beginning to define where the next phase of activity will take place.

Institutionalising Digital Assets

As the conversation turned to the future, Nilesh highlighted how the next phase of growth in crypto will be shaped by lessons drawn from traditional markets. By applying well-established financial disciplines, including structured product design, derivatives innovation, and prudent risk management, the industry can continue to mature responsibly and sustainably. 

The discussion at Coinbase’s Crypto Forum underscored a broader point: institutional participation and sound infrastructure will be key to unlocking stability and confidence in the evolving digital asset ecosystem. 

The discussion made clear that the next phase of growth in digital assets will depend not only on technology but also on trusted financial infrastructure.

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When crypto prices were running hot, Wall Street pounced. Issuers rushed to file for a dizzying number of ETFs tied to altcoins — the volatile, thinly traded tokens that live on the speculative edge of digital finance. Then came the past week’s crash.

Yet, even before the meltdown, Ilan Solot, senior global market strategist at
Marex Solutions, saw major hurdles to wrapping altcoins into ETFs — from shallow liquidity and token dilution to their small market caps.

“We saw this carnival of new filings and many providers thought it was party time,” he said. But “after the blow up, it will be even harder. There are thousands of ETFs that launched that get no longevity. I suspect few of these will have meaningful inflows.”

Read the full article here

Source: Bloomberg

Market Commentary

Ethereum has been one of the standout performers of 2025, driven by several factors: 

• Institutional Demand & ETFs: Inflows to spot ETH ETFs have picked up dramatically this year, often outpacing inflows to BTC ETFs, creating a more liquid, regulated access point for investors.

Source: Bloomberg

• On-Chain Activity & Stablecoins: Ethereum remains the backbone of DeFi and the stablecoin ecosystem (e.g. USDT, USDC). Stablecoin settlement volumes are rising, supported by lower transaction costs following recent upgrades. Importantly, major banks are now piloting stablecoin payments for cross-border and real-time settlement, reinforcing the chain’s role as core financial infrastructure.

• Supply Dynamics: A larger share of ETH is staked or locked in DeFi protocols, while the ongoing burn mechanism reduces circulating supply. Together, these dynamics tighten the available float and underpin price resilience. 

• Macro Tailwinds: Softer USD, expectations of Fed rate cuts, and improving regulatory clarity are boosting sentiment across the crypto complex. 

• Technical Momentum: ETH recently posted its highest weekly close in four years and is testing resistance closer to $4,000, with bullish momentum supporting continued client interest. 

Source: Bloomberg, Marex

How Clients Are Engaging with Ethereum 

Institutional investors have increasingly asked for ways to balance risk management with upside exposure when allocating to digital assets. Within our Investment Opportunities 2025 publication, we discussed the broader concept of using structured products that combine capital preservation features with participation in market growth.

Ethereum has been a focal point for many clients, reflecting both its strong performance and its growing role in institutional portfolios. Our work in this space focuses on designing solutions that can provide structured, risk-managed exposure – always tailored to the objectives and constraints of professional investors.

If you are interested in understanding more about the types of approaches available for digital asset exposure, our team would be pleased to discuss this with you. 

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*All requests will be reviewed internally before granting access to the 2025 Investment Opportunities e-booklet. Please note, this is for professional/institutional investors only and may not be shared