Updated Methodology & Pre-Rebalance Report for the Metaverse Index on 2023-02-01
Posted on Behalf of the IMC (@afromac, @sidhemraj, @MrMadila)
Product: Metaverse Index (MVI)
Rebalance Date: 2023-03-01
Methodologist: Index Coop Internal Methodologist Committee
Introduction
This report outlines the proposed changes to the Metaverse Index, providing stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the new index constituents, weights, and significant changes to the index composition. The last rebalance was conducted on 2022-10-01, and the pending rebalance is scheduled for 2023-03-01.
Objective
The new objective of MVI is to reflect the trend of Metaverse and Gaming activities in virtual economies powered by blockchain technology and NFTs, replacing the previous objective of capturing entertainment, social activities, and businesses in virtual economies powered by blockchain technology and NFTs.
Asset Inclusion Criteria
Eligible tokens must meet the following criteria:
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Must be ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain
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Must be categorized in one or more of the following categories on CoinGecko: NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, or categorized as Metaverse or NFTs by Messari
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The primary asset’s market capitalization must be at least 75,000 ETH as of the data collection date
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The token must have a median daily decentralized exchange trading volume of at least $100,000 in the 30-day period preceding the data collection date
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Tokens must have at least three months of on-chain liquidity and price history, as well as three months of operation history
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An independent security audit must have been performed on the protocol, and the results must have been reviewed by the product methodologists
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If no audit has been performed, the methodologists will apply subjective judgment based on an assessment of the criteria above and communications with the team.
Asset Weighting Methodology
The weight of constituents in MVI will be determined by a combination of square root market capitalization and decentralized exchange volume.
Weight = 0.75 * SRMW + 0.25 * DVW
SRMW = Square Root of Market Capitalization / Sum of the Square Root of Market Capitalization across all eligible assets
DVM = DEX Volume / Sum of the DEX Volume across all eligible assets
Specific Methodology Changes:
Eligible Categories
The eligible categories for MVI will no longer include Entertainment, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Music from CoinGecko. However, it will include Metaverse and NFTs categories as determined by Messari. This change will keep the index focused on the most relevant tokens to the stated index objective.
Minimum Market Capitalization
The minimum market capitalization has been changed from $50,000,000 to 75,000 ETH, equivalent to $116,197,900 as of the data collection date. This change aims to limit the possibility of including illiquid and thinly traded micro-caps in the index and instead center the index around more established projects. Many metaverse and gaming protocols have limited on-chain liquidity, making access a challenge for customers. This update should mitigate some of those challenges. Additionally, the change from USD to ETH as the currency for minimum market capitalization accounts for the fact that many token prices correlate with the price of ETH rather than USD, thus preventing large turnover as the price of ETH rises and falls.
Replacement of Liquidity Weighting with DEX Volume Weighting
We have decided to replace the existing criterion of using available liquidity for determining the index weightings. Although this is a valid measure, liquidity on decentralized exchanges tends to be unstable due to the nature of automated market makers. Instead, we will now be using a median daily DEX volume weighting. This will account for daily volatility and provide a more reliable assessment of whether or not the asset is being traded across DEXs on Ethereum. By adopting this approach, we can avoid over-weighting or under-weighting constituents based on a fixed point in time.
Current Index Composition:
| Symbol | Units | Price | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| ILV | 0.067055 | $78.53 | 17.68% |
| APE | 0.725538 | $5.56 | 13.53% |
| AXS | 0.357593 | $10.81 | 12.97% |
| MANA | 4.122494 | $0.70 | 9.75% |
| SAND | 3.411087 | $0.78 | 8.96% |
| ENJ | 3.473375 | $0.50 | 5.85% |
| AUDIO | 5.294865 | $0.32 | 5.67% |
| WAXE (WAXP) | 0.015003 | $83.74 | 4.22% |
| MC | 3.059372 | $0.39 | 4.00% |
| LOOKS | 4.348047 | $0.22 | 3.24% |
| YGG | 2.247376 | $0.36 | 2.69% |
| RLY | 44.051081 | $0.01 | 2.13% |
| ERN | 0.229352 | $2.53 | 1.95% |
| DG | 10.707265 | $0.05 | 1.66% |
| TVK | 8.607478 | $0.05 | 1.55% |
| RARI | 0.205558 | $2.10 | 1.45% |
| NFTX | 0.016416 | $23.21 | 1.28% |
| REVV | 13.620584 | $0.02 | 0.72% |
| WHALE | 0.261200 | $0.80 | 0.70% |
New Index Composition:
| Symbol | Units | Price | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| APE | 1.16 | $5.56 | 21.60% |
| SAND | 3.72 | $0.78 | 9.78% |
| MANA | 3.98 | $0.70 | 9.40% |
| AXS | 0.25 | $10.81 | 8.96% |
| LOOKS | 11.08 | $0.22 | 8.27% |
| IMX | 2.28 | $1.02 | 7.82% |
| ENS | 0.12 | $16.45 | 6.66% |
| ILV | 0.02 | $78.53 | 6.50% |
| GALA | 41.08 | $0.05 | 6.36% |
| ENJ | 3.45 | $0.50 | 5.81% |
| AUDIO | 4.58 | $0.32 | 4.91% |
| MC | 3.02 | $0.39 | 3.94% |
Constituents Removed:
The following tokens are being removed from the index
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YGG (Market Cap Threshold)
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DG (Market Cap Threshold)
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REVV (Market Cap Threshold, Volume Threshold)
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WAXE (Volume Threshold)
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NFTX (Market Cap Threshold, Volume Threshold)
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WHALE (Market Cap Threshold, Volume Threshold)
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ERN (Market Cap Threshold)
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TVK (Market Cap Threshold)
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RLY (Market Cap Threshold)
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RARI (Market Cap Threshold, Volume Threshold)
Constituents Added:
GALA: Gala Games
Market Cap: $347,645,458
Median 30-Day DEX Volume: $1,459,353
“Gala Games is a play-to-earn game development company building a robust gaming ecosystem that leverages the power of blockchain technology to empower its users. The project exists on both Ethereum and the Binance Smart Chain, but plans to migrate to its own native blockchain in the future. Players are able to truly own their in-game items in the form of NFT’s which can be traded on secondary markets.” (Source: Messari)
IMX: Immutable X
Market Cap: $807,908,010
Median 30-Day DEX Volume: $571,138
“Immutable X operates as the first-ever Layer 2 scaling solution for NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Utilizing zk rollup technology, Immutable X aims to solve high gas fee and scalability concerns when minting and trading NFTs.” (Source: Messari)
ENS: Ethereum Name Service
Market Cap: $423,674,773
Median 30-Day DEX Volume: $1,289,441
“The Ethereum Name Service is a distributed and open-source naming system that maps human-readable names to machine-readable identifiers like cryptocurrency addresses, metadata and content hashes. Although it is built on Ethereum, the lookup system can be deployed on private blockchains and other networks to customize complex strings of data into readable content. Apart from the native .eth top-level domain, DNS top-level domains such as .luxe, .xyz, and .kred have been integrated into ENS.” (Source: Messari)
Implementation:
The rebalance initially scheduled for January 1st, 2023, was postponed to March 1st, 2023, due to the transfer of the methodologist role from MetaPortal to Index Coop per IIP-169. This transfer required additional time to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities and reassess the index’s objective and implementation. Going forward, rebalances will occur quarterly on the first business day of March, June, September, and December.
The relevant dates for the upcoming rebalance are
Data Collection Date: 2023-02-22
Pre-Rebalance Report Date: 2023-02-24
Rebalance Date: 2023-03-01
Post-Rebalance Report Date: 2023-03-08
There is no need for token holders or distribution partners to take any action.
Summary:
The Metaverse Index (MVI) will see a significant overhaul of its methodology with changes to its eligibility criteria and weightings:
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Minimum market capitalization for eligible tokens will be 75,000 ETH
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Decentralized exchange volume weighting will replace current liquidity weighting
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Eligible categories will focus specifically on Metaverse, Gaming, and NFTs, and no longer include Entertainment, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality
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Ten tokens that no longer meet the updated criteria will be removed
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IMX, GALA, and ENS will be added to the index as leading projects in their respective categories
The changes aim to provide a more reliable and stable index composition that more accurately captures the stated objective.
Raw data can be found here
Revisions
- CHZ will not be added to MVI due to liquidity concerns