---
type: claim
domain: internet-finance
description: "AVICI retained 95.3% of holders through 65% price decline, suggesting ownership coins create different holder psychology than governance tokens"
confidence: experimental
source: "Messari 2026 Thesis via CryptoNews, AVICI holder data mid-December 2025"
created: 2026-03-11
---

# Ownership coins demonstrate higher holder retention during drawdowns than governance tokens because legal and economic rights create genuine ownership psychology rather than speculative exposure

AVICI provides empirical evidence that ownership coins create fundamentally different holder behavior than governance tokens. During a 65% price decline, AVICI lost only 600 holders out of 12,752—a 4.7% attrition rate. This retention pattern is extraordinary compared to typical governance token behavior during equivalent drawdowns, where 30-50% holder attrition is common.

Galaxy Digital defines ownership coins as combining "economic, legal, and governance rights in one asset"—distinct from governance tokens that offer only voting rights. This structural difference creates "legally enforceable digital assets that provide meaningful and enforceable control over digital organizations with tangible assets."

The mechanism appears to be that legal and economic rights create genuine ownership psychology. When holders have enforceable claims on treasury assets and revenue streams, price volatility becomes less relevant to the hold decision. Governance token holders, by contrast, have only voting rights with no legal claim on value, making price the primary signal for exit.

The 600 lost holders represent only 21% of the initial 45-day growth rate of 9,300 new holders, suggesting the project retained holders who joined specifically for ownership rights rather than price speculation. AVICI also showed low concentration among large holders, indicating the retention effect holds across holder size categories rather than being driven by a few strategic holders.

## Evidence
- AVICI: 12,752 holders mid-December 2025
- 65% price decline resulted in loss of only 600 holders (4.7% attrition)
- 600 lost holders = 21% of initial 45-day growth rate of 9,300 new holders
- Low concentration among large holders (self-reported, unverified)
- Galaxy Digital definition: ownership coins combine "economic, legal, and governance rights in one asset"

## Challenges
- Single project data point—need comparison across multiple ownership coin projects
- No direct comparison to governance token holder behavior during equivalent drawdowns in same time period
- Holder retention could be influenced by community factors independent of ownership structure
- Time period is short (45-day growth window)—need longer-term data
- AVICI low concentration claim is self-reported and unverified

---

Relevant Notes:
- [[ownership coins primary value proposition is investor protection not governance quality because anti-rug enforcement through market-governed liquidation creates credible exit guarantees that no amount of decision optimization can match.md]]
- [[futarchy-enables-conditional-ownership-coins.md]]

Topics:
- [[domains/internet-finance/_map]]
