Wilshire Indexes and Digital Asset Research add 66 More Digital Assets to Sector Classification System

The Digital Asset Taxonomy System now classifies 1,658 assets, the broadest coverage on the market

London, August 22, 2023 – Wilshire Indexes, a leading global benchmark platform, and Digital Asset Research (DAR), a specialized provider of ‘clean’ digital asset data, research and insights, today announced that 66 additional assets have been classified and added to the Digital Asset Taxonomy System (DATS) as a result of its rules-based quarterly review process.

DATS now classifies 1,658 digital assets, the broadest coverage in the market, to enable traditional and digital-native financial institutions to perform sector-based performance attribution, assess sector themes and construct custom portfolios.

DATS routinely classifies the top 1,000 digital assets by market capitalization at the end of each quarter. The classification of an additional 66 digital assets at the July review follows a turbulent trading period over the last three quarters which resulted in significant changes to the market capitalization of many digital assets.

There was a change to the classification of DeFi assets that were built on top of Proof-of-Stake blockchains from “DeFi, Environmentally Focused” theme to “DeFi” post Ethereum’s adoption of the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism.

The updated classifications are available now from Wilshire Indexes.

Martin Howard, SVP of Index Research at Wilshire Indexes commented, “Quarterly reviews of the Digital Asset Taxonomy System ensure that the sector classification remains representative of this rapidly evolving asset class. In conjunction with a rules-based methodology we aim to bring the utmost transparency to classification through their publication so institutions can make investment decisions based on trusted data.”

Doug Schwenk, CEO of Digital Asset Research (DAR) and Deputy Co-Chair of the Wilshire Digital Assets Advisory Group, commented, “DATS continues to be the digital asset industry’s most rigorous taxonomy system with the broadest coverage. Its utility is unparalleled – especially now for the active ETP market as new products are launched or filed for.”

How can investors use DATS in their investment management operations?

Traditional and digital-native asset owners, product issuers, custodians and research service providers can license DATS for the same purposes as they would when adopting an equity or fixed income classification system:

  • Developing digital asset investment strategies and risk policies
  • Issuing index-linked products based on sector-themed indexes
  • Conducting performance attribution
  • Constructing custom digital asset portfolios

The next review will be in October 2023. Visit HERE for more information and for the full DATS methodology.