What is NAV Premium & Discount?
Glossary · Pricing
NAV premium (or discount) is the gap between a tokenized asset's on-chain market price and its net asset value (NAV) — the value of the underlying share or fund. The formula is premium % = (token price − NAV) ÷ NAV × 100. A token trading above NAV is at a premium; below NAV, a discount.
How NAV premium is calculated
NAV premium is the percentage difference between what a tokenized asset trades at and the value of what backs it: premium % = ((token market price − NAV) ÷ NAV) × 100. For example, a token trading at $102 against a $100 NAV sits at a +2% premium; trading at $98 it sits at a −2% discount.
Premiums and discounts arise because the token trades 24/7 while the underlying share's NAV updates on a market schedule, and because liquidity, mint-and-redeem friction, and oracle latency all introduce small gaps between the token price and NAV.
Why NAV premium matters
A small, fluctuating premium or discount is normal. A large or persistent divergence is the signal worth watching — it can indicate thin liquidity, an arbitrage gap, paused redemptions, or stress in the backing, and at the extreme it becomes a de-peg. Tracking NAV premium per asset, against multiple oracles, separates routine noise from genuine risk. TxOnChain's NAV-premium view tracks this live across the tokenized-equity universe.
Frequently asked questions
What causes a tokenized stock to trade above NAV?
Demand outpacing available supply, the underlying stock market being closed while the token keeps trading, or friction in minting new tokens can all push a token to a premium above its NAV.
Is a NAV premium bad?
Not inherently — it simply reflects supply and demand at that moment. A large, persistent premium or discount is the meaningful signal, because it points to a liquidity, redemption, or backing issue.
Related terms
- Tokenized Equity — A tokenized equity is a blockchain token that represents ownership of, or economic exposure to, a real company share.
- De-Peg & Tracking Error — A de-peg (or tracking error) is when a tokenized asset's price drifts away from the value of the share or fund it represents.
- Multi-Oracle Pricing — Multi-oracle pricing values a tokenized asset by comparing several independent price feeds — such as Pyth, Chainlink, the issuer's published NAV, and the on-chain market price — instead of trusting one source.
Informational only · not financial advice. See the live data on the newsroom. · ← All glossary terms