Since the start of 2022, cryptocurrency markets have performed poorly, as have broader risk markets.
Over the past week, Bitcoin is down 11.7% and Ethereum is down 17.3%. As for our crypto indices, our DeFi index has fallen 13.9% over the past week and our smart contract index is down 18.1% but the biggest decline has been in our metaverse index, which is down 21% (see charts below). The metaverse index is now down 45% since its peak in late November 2021.
Here are the performance details.
- DeFi index All five coins in our DeFi basket fell over the past seven days. Aave (AAVE) is currently down the most at 23.8%, and PancakeSwap (CAKE) is down the least at 10.8%.
- Metaverse index All five coins in our metaverse basket saw declines. Gala (GALA) is currently down the most at 30.4%, and Decentraland (MANA) is down the least at 14.4%.
- Smart contract platform index All five coins in our smart contract basket also declined. Avalanche (AVAX) is currently down the most at 21%, and Cardano (ADA) is down the least at 13.8%.
- Bitcoin This fell 11.7% but notably has performed better than Solana, Cardano and Ethereum over the past seven days.
What are in the four indices?
Here are the indices in more detail.
- Bitcoin he OG of crypto markets deserves its own category and is in many ways the true benchmark for any other crypto market.
- Smart contract platforms fter Bitcoin, the big innovation was to have blockchains that were more programmable. These could host smart contracts or decentralized applications and have allowed the emergence of the metaverse and DeFi. Ethereum (ETH) is the most popular version of a smart contract platform, but we include rivals Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA) and Avalanche (AVAX). We also include Polkadot (DOT), which allows interoperability between blockchains and the use of smart contracts via parachains.
- Metaverse oins associated with the creation of a virtual space/digital world on the internet using a combination of augmented reality, virtual reality and social networks. One of the largest in this space is Axie Infinity (AXS), which is a play-to-earn gaming platform. Another is Decentraland (MANA), which is a virtual world that allows ownership of land, among other things. The three other coins we include are Sandbox (SAND), Enjin Coin (CNJ) and Gala (GALA).
- Decentralized finance (DeFi) nancial 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 and borrowing or to yield farming. The five coins we have selected are Aave (AAVE), Maker (MKR), Compound (COMP), Uniswap (UNI) and PancakeSwap (CAKE).
