DAT Provider Economics Stress Test: frequently asked questions.
Short answers on what is benchmarked, what sources are used, how current contract versions and activation status are verified, what the 72-hour scope includes and what the work does not claim.
What is a DAT provider?
For this research, a DAT provider is a manager, adviser or related service provider whose economics are tied to a public company's digital-asset treasury strategy. Depending on the mandate, that can include treasury management, asset management, strategic advice, staking, derivatives, custody coordination or adjacent services.
What does the stress test benchmark?
The analysis normalizes recurring fees, performance fees, hurdles and high-water marks, equity and warrants, term and renewal mechanics, termination rights, remaining-term exposure, related-party facts, governance rights, realized renegotiations, internalizations and public exit outcomes.
Why not compare only the headline AUM fee?
Because two agreements with the same headline percentage can produce very different economics. Scope, denominator, term, equity consideration, performance compensation and termination provisions can dominate the practical cost of changing providers.
Who is the work for?
Typical users are Boards, finance teams, CFOs, counsel and other decision-makers reviewing a material provider arrangement before approval, amendment, periodic review, renegotiation, internalization, termination or dispute.
What sources are used?
The base product is public-source. Priority sources are SEC filings, executed agreements and amendments, current-period 10-K / 10-Q / 8-K disclosures, proxy materials, court records where relevant and attributable company materials. Material figures and contract terms are tied back to source documents.
How do you avoid benchmarking a superseded agreement?
Each agreement family is tracked as ORIGINAL → AMENDED → CURRENT → TERMINATED? before it enters the comparable set. A historical agreement is not treated as current simply because it remains accessible in EDGAR.
Can a signed DAT management agreement exist before active management begins?
Yes. The filed Webus / Samara Alpha delegated digital-asset management agreement is a clear public example: it was executed in May 2025 but states that the mandate becomes effective only when assets are actually transferred to the designated custody wallet. The company said at announcement that no assets had yet been transferred or committed. For currentness, signed, effective, funded and terminated status should be tracked separately.
Does the stress test give a legal or fairness opinion?
No. It is factual public-source research. It does not provide legal advice, a fairness opinion, a fiduciary opinion, an accounting opinion, an investment recommendation or a provider selection / termination recommendation.
What is delivered in 72 hours?
The founding scope covers one target manager / adviser agreement family, 5–7 verified public comparables, fee and exit normalization, relevant realized outcomes and transition-control signals, a source ledger, one evidence pack and one revision.
What does it cost?
The founding validation scope is $4,900 fixed for the standard 72-hour public-source stress test. A materially broader scope may require a different timeline or fee.
Do you need confidential company documents?
Not for the standard product. It is designed to produce a useful independent evidence layer from public filings and agreements without requiring access to internal mailboxes, data rooms or operating systems.
When is a stress test most useful?
When economics are material and there is a real decision trigger: a new provider agreement, amendment, recurring-fee review, related-party scrutiny, activist challenge, renegotiation, internalization, termination or a dispute over exit economics.
Can public outcomes be more useful than a peer fee table?
Often yes. A realized fee reset, negotiated termination, internalization or disputed acceleration provision can show how provider economics behave under pressure in a way that a static percentage comparison cannot.
Start with the public methodology
See how fee, scope, currentness, term, exit, governance and realized outcomes are normalized before a comparable is used.