Crypto Index Tracker: Metaverse Index Hit Hardest on US CPI Data
- By Bilal Hafeez and Dalvir Mandara
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- 3 min read
Crypto markets sold off on the higher-than-expected US CPI data last week, but moves were volatile across the board. Our new expanded indices show that the Metaverse Index has been hit the hardest – it’s down 16% (Charts 1 and 2). Our Smart Contract Index and our DeFi Index had similar performances – both down 13% WoW.
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Crypto markets sold off on the higher-than-expected US CPI data last week, but moves were volatile across the board. Our new expanded indices show that the Metaverse Index has been hit the hardest – it’s down 16% (Charts 1 and 2). Our Smart Contract Index and our DeFi Index had similar performances – both down 13% WoW. Bitcoin has been more resilient to worries over rising inflation, though still down 3% on the week. In terms of the breakdown within each index:
- Smart Contract Platform Index. Solana (SOL) is down the most at 18% and Avalanche (AVAX) is down the least at 2%. Ethereum is down 7%.
- DeFi Index. Loopring (LRC) is down the most at 21% and PancakeSwap (CAKE) is down the least at 6%.
- Metaverse Index. RedFOX Labs (RFOX) is down the most at 23% and Aavegotchi (GHST) is down the least at 2%.
- Bitcoin. This is down 3% on the week.
What Are In The Four Indices?
Here are the indices in more detail:
- Bitcoin: the OG of crypto markets deserves its own category and is in many ways the true benchmark for any other crypto market.
- Smart contract platforms: after bitcoin, the big innovation was to have blockchains that were more programmable. These could host smart contracts or decentralised applications and have allowed the emergence of the metaverse and defi. Ethereum (ETH) is the most popular version of a smart contract platform. As well as ethereum, we also include some key competitors. The constituents of this index are: Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL), Fantom (FTM), VeChain (VET), Terra (LUNA), EOS (EOS), and Chainlink (LINK). We also include Polkadot (DOT) which allows interoperability between blockchains and the use of smart contracts via parachains.
- Metaverse: coins associated with the creation of a virtual space/digital world on the internet using a combination of augmented reality, virtual reality, and social networks. The constituents of this index are: Axie Infinity (AXS), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Enjin Coin (ENJ), Aavegotchi (GHST), Terra Virtua Kolect (TVK), Ultra (UOS), Phantasma (SOUL), RedFOX Labs (RFOX), and Gala (GALA).
- Decentralised Finance (DeFi): financial services built on top of blockchain networks with no central intermediaries. This can be a very broad category, so we narrow this down to platforms that focus on lending/borrowing, yield farming, automated market making and decentralised exchange tokens. The constituents of this index are: Aave (AAVE), Compound (COMP), Uniswap (UNI), Yearn.finance (YFI), Loopring (LRC), PancakeSwap (CAKE), Maker (MKR), 1inch (1INCH), Thorchain (RUNE), and Terra (LUNA).
Dalvir Mandara is a Quantitative Researcher at Macro Hive. Dalvir has a BSc Mathematics and Computer Science and an MSc Mathematical Finance both from the University of Birmingham. His areas of interest are in the applications of machine learning, deep learning and alternative data for predictive modelling of financial markets.
Bilal Hafeez is the CEO and Editor of Macro Hive. He spent over twenty years doing research at big banks – JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Nomura, where he had various “Global Head” roles and did FX, rates and cross-markets research.