Daily Edition · Page 6

THE DAILY INDEX

Technology, AI, software, security, crypto and business

MARKETS & BUSINESS

TLDR Crypto

A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR IDENTIFYING MOATS IN CRYPTO MARKETS

This new framework for assessing defensibility in crypto markets proposes evaluating based on the question: “If I fork this app, with $50M in token subsidies, can I steal and maintain market share?” Traditional moats like liquidity and TVL may be insufficient for long-term defensibility, as they can be subsidized by well-funded competitors. True defensibility may stem from intangibles like brand, superior UX, and a team's innovation ability. Value capture is moving towards front-ends and their wallets, given their proximity to end users and access to order flow.

TOTAL TRANSACTION VALUE: A NEW WAY TO ASSESS ORACLES

Though total value secured is typically used as an oracle metric, each DeFi sector has varied price demand requiring more or less updates. Two protocols with identical TVS can have different pricing needs. With Chainlink, for example, Synthetix is a larger contributor to TVS, but dYdX does over 4x more trading volume. Total Transaction Value, calculating but summing the volume of derivative DEXs using an oracle, is a better metric. This metric shows that market leaders are losing.

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