When Tokens Come With a Refund Button

This article is brought to you by IMPOSSIBLE.

Ever wished your token investments came with a refund button?

In 2025 alone, 533 public token sales took place. According to CryptoRank, only 12% (63 tokens) are still trading above their sale price today.

Even the biggest launches were not immune.

Pump raised $600 million, briefly reached around 2× at its all-time high, and now trades below its IDO price.

Trove raised $11.5 million, only to crash 95 to 98% within minutes of launch. Investors were furious. Refund disputes followed, with reports suggesting only $100,000 was returned out of millions raised.

These are the moments when every investor asks the same question.

“Why can't token sales come with downside protection?”

It sounds unrealistic, almost impossible.

But a structure inspired by traditional finance suggests otherwise.

A TradFi Idea, Reimagined for Token Sales

In traditional finance, a put option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to sell an asset at a fixed price before a certain date. Its purpose is simple — downside protection.

A perpetual put option removes the expiration date entirely. As long as you hold it, you retain the right to sell the asset back at a predetermined price.

Applied to token sales, this introduces something crypto has never had before.

An on-chain refund right.

What Does a Perpetual Put Look Like in Practice?

Flying Tulip, a new DeFi protocol by Andre Cronje of Yearn Finance, Keep3r, and Solidly, is among the first projects to implement this idea directly into its ongoing public sale mechanics.

Instead of simply receiving tokens after depositing funds, participants receive an on-chain Perpetual Put Option NFT, an ERC-721. This NFT bundles two components.

1. The underlying tokens
2. A standing right to redeem the original contribution

This structure is called a Perpetual Put Option, or ftPUT.

A Simple Example

Assume the token price is $0.10 per FT.

You deposit 1,000 USDT.

You receive an NFT representing 10,000 FT.

Embedded in that NFT is a perpetual right to redeem your original 1,000 USDT.

From there, you have optionality:

1. If the price drops or you want your funds back

You can burn some or all of the FT inside the NFT and receive your USDT back.

Burn 10,000 FT to get 1,000 USDT.

Burn 5,000 FT to get 500 USDT.

2. If the price rises or you want liquidity

You can withdraw FT from the NFT and sell it on the market. Once withdrawn, the refund right for that portion is permanently removed, and the corresponding funds are released to the protocol.

3. Or, you do nothing

You simply hold the NFT, keeping both downside protection and upside exposure intact.

Importantly, this refund mechanism is live on-chain, not a promise or a policy. Positions can be viewed directly through the protocol interface.

Ever wished your investments came with a refund button?

That’s basically what @flyingtulip_’s Perpetual Put Option does.

Sounds wild? Watch the video 👀 pic.twitter.com/j4VEIPucR8

— IMPOSSIBLE (@impossible_) January 22, 2026

Why This Structure Is Different

This approach introduces several structural shifts compared to traditional token sales.

• Downside protection is native.
• Investors no longer rely on trust, vesting schedules, or post-launch goodwill.
• Supply becomes deflationary.
• Every refund burns tokens, reducing circulating supply over time.
• Capital efficiency improves.
• Deposited funds are not idle. In Flying Tulip’s case, capital is deployed into low-risk DeFi strategies to generate yield, fund operations, and buy back tokens from the market.
• Liquidity pressure is softened.
• Instead of panic-selling on open markets, exits occur through token burns.

A Potential New Standard for Public Sales?

Token launches have long struggled with misaligned incentives. Projects want long-term capital, while investors bear nearly all downside risk.

Embedding a perpetual put option directly into token issuance does not eliminate risk, but it redefines it in a way that is transparent, programmable, and enforceable on-chain.

As more projects experiment with new fundraising models, one question remains.

Could refund-native token sales become the norm in 2026?

About Flying Tulip

Flying Tulip is a new DeFi protocol by Andre Cronje, designed to address long-standing inefficiencies in decentralized finance such as fragmented liquidity, isolated capital, inconsistent yield, and reliance on slow external oracles. The protocol unifies trading, lending, and derivatives within a single liquidity and risk framework.

For more details, please refer to the research report.

About IMPOSSIBLE

IMPOSSIBLE is a research and advisory firm led by former Binance team members and DeFi veterans. The firm operates CURATED, a DeFi deal platform accessible to trusted curators. IMPOSSIBLE supports projects with fundraising and go-to-market strategies for scaling while providing investors with access to premier opportunities. Its portfolio includes Plasma, Sophon, Aethir, Xai, CARV, and other leading projects.

Disclaimer:

While this system is designed to protect your principal, it does not eliminate all risks. Your participation remains subject to various risks including, but not limited to, smart contract vulnerabilities, exploits, operational errors, and other unforeseen technical or economic events that may result in partial or total loss of your assets. IMPOSSIBLE provides no guarantees or assurances regarding safety, performance, or returns. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. You participate at your own risk and should always conduct your own research, seek advice from qualified professionals, and fully understand all risks before participating.