GSR
Market maker
Crypto’s oldest market maker, with a token-loan proposal to Stake DAO on the public record from 2022; what it does with a client’s tokens is not reported publicly.
About GSR
GSR, founded in 2013, runs market-making, advisory, venture and asset-management businesses. It has proposed token-loan market-making deals to DAOs on their governance forums, and in 2026 acquired Autonomous and Architech for $57M to add treasury and tokenisation services.
gsr.io ↗Our verdict
It proposed its token-loan terms to Stake DAO in public in 2022, with no vote recorded, and publishes no reporting on client tokens.
How each block was graded
Mandate
GSR proposed a market-making deal to Stake DAO on its forum in 2022 — a loan of 1,250,000 SDT, about 3% of supply — and the community discussed it, but the thread records no vote, and an August 2022 update says market making had not started. We found no more recent engagement announced by both sides.
| What we found | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| GSR’s proposal on the Stake DAO forum: 1,250,000 SDT in monthly tranches (8 Jun 2022); no vote recorded, not started as of Aug 2022 | gov.stakedao.org | 2026-09-21 |
Money
No amount under management is disclosed; its advisory site quotes “136B+ aggregate trading volume” without a scope or date. The deal structure is public: the DAO lends GSR tokens, and GSR returns them or pays USDT at pre-set prices.
| What we found | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| not published | — | 2026-09-21 |
| “136B+ aggregate trading volume” (undated, scope not stated) | advisory.gsr.io | 2026-09-21 |
| Token loan to GSR, repaid in tokens or in USDT at pre-set prices | gov.stakedao.org | 2026-09-21 |
Transparency
GSR’s Stake DAO proposal contains no reporting obligations, and we found no public reporting by GSR or its clients.
| What we found | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| No reporting obligations in GSR’s Stake DAO proposal | gov.stakedao.org | 2026-09-21 |
Strengths & weaknesses
What works
- ✓Its deal terms were proposed in public, on the DAO’s own forum
- ✓Operating since 2013
Where it loses grades
- ✕Client tokens are lent to GSR outright
- ✕No confirmed vote on its Stake DAO proposal
- ✕No public reporting on client mandates
A token project that wants its market-making terms debated in public before a deal starts.
A DAO that needs ongoing public reporting from its market maker.
The rest of the dao treasury & liquidity managers ranking
Same three blocks, same rules, same review run — this is what GSR is being compared against.
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