FinTechs and Crypto Valuation: A Comparison with Traditional Assets

Purpose: To show how FinTechs (exchanges, payment apps, neobanks, brokers, custodians) shape crypto-asset valuation by mediating access, liquidity, settlement, and compliance, and to bridge appraisal logics from traditional assets to tokenized markets. Methodology: I extend a multilayer valuation framework with a copula-based interdependence structure to include a FinTech intermediation layer. Traditional finance factors (L1), crypto-native fundamentals (L2), and sentiment/behavioral signals (L3) are augmented with FinTech variables, including stablecoin rails, exchange microstructure and outages, payment-app adoption, and custody/prime-broker collateral usability. Identification relies on interaction terms and event-style tests around platform launches, fee changes, outages, partnerships, and regulatory actions. Data: Token-level prices and liquidity measures; exchange depth/spreads and outage logs; stablecoin supply/velocity; and FinTech adoption proxies (e.g., app downloads/DAU, supported fiat rails, custody features, fee tiers). Regulatory and platform news provide time stamped events. (Frequency aligned to the main specification.) Findings: Higher FinTech intensity is associated with faster error-correction after information shocks and stronger transmission of valuation signals when stablecoin liquidity and exchange depth are high. Outages and funding frictions increase tail dependence. Adding FinTech terms improves explanatory power and stress-window accuracy without materially altering baseline coefficients. Original contribution: The paper makes FinTech intermediation an explicit, testable layer in crypto valuation, linking platform conditions to price discovery within a transparent, regulation-ready (MiCA/SEC) and ESG-aware framework. This clarifies how appraisal paradigms from traditional assets extend to crypto when routed through modern FinTech infrastructure.