The report aims to provide a standard classification model for the crypto industry and is the first phase of a partnership between 21Shares and CoinGecko
ZURICH/NEW YORK, February 8, 2022 – 21Shares AG ("21Shares"), the world's largest issuer of cryptocurrency exchange traded products (ETPs) and a subsidiary of 21.co, today released The Global Crypto Classification Standard report, in partnership with CoinGecko – the world's largest independent cryptocurrency data aggregator. The report creates a uniform way to categorize cryptoassets, so investors and regulators can better understand the nuances within the asset class.
Unlike traditional financial assets, crypto varies drastically from one asset to another – creating a need for a standard way to summarize and understand the different assets. In order to solve this, the methodology introduced is composed of three levels of categorization, with each cryptoasset falling into one option within each level. The levels include:
- Level 1: Crypto Stack (i.e. cryptocurrencies, smart contract platforms, decentralized applications (dApps))
- Level 2: Market Mapping by Sectors (i.e. infrastructure, metaverse, decentralized finance) and Industries (i.e. developer tooling, payment platform, credit/lending)
- Level 3: Taxonomy of Cryptoassets (i.e. cryptocurrency, staked currency, governance token and more)
As an example, below the categories two assets, Bitcoin and Uniswap, fall under for each level.
| Crypto Asset | Ticker | Level 1: Crypto Stack | Level 2A: Sector | Level 2B: Industry | Level 3: Token Taxonomy |
| Bitcoin | BTC | Cryptocurrencies | Infrastructure | Payments | Cryptocurrency |
| Uniswap | UNI | Decentralized Application (dApp) | Decentralized Finance (DeFi) | Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) | Governance Token |
“Crypto is still in the early days – but it is key to have a standard way to classify the asset class so investors can understand both the commonalities and differences between the various assets,” said Eliézer Ndinga, Director of Research at 21.co, parent company of 21Shares. “Upon meeting with CoinGecko, we knew the company’s independent nature and reputation as a one-stop-shop to learn about new projects in the crypto space made them the right partner for this type of initiative.”
In addition to the report published today, 21Shares and CoinGecko used the methodology proposed to evaluate the Top 100 crypto assets by market capitalization. The classification – done in partnership between the two companies – will be available on the CoinGecko website by summer of 2023.
“Being able to systematically rank and classify cryptoassets, based on a research-driven approach, aligns well with our mission as an independent cryptocurrency data aggregator,” said Bobby Ong, COO and co-founder of CoinGecko. “We’re thrilled to team up with 21Shares to provide consumers worldwide with a framework to anchor on, as the space evolves.”
The full report can be found here on the 21Shares website, as well as here on the CoinGecko website.
Press Contacts
For 21.co:
Arielle Pennington, Head of Global Communications, press@21.co
Megan Enright, Communications Manager, press@21.co
For CoinGecko:
Julia Ng, PR & Marketing Lead, julia.ng@coingecko.com
About 21.co
21.co is the world’s leader in providing access to crypto through simple and easy to use products. 21.co is the parent company of 21Shares, the world’s largest issuer of cryptocurrency exchange traded products (ETPs) – which is powered by Onyx, a proprietary technology platform used to issue and operate cryptocurrency ETPs for 21Shares and third parties. The company was founded in 2018 by Hany Rashwan and Ophelia Snyder. 21.co is registered in Zug, Switzerland with offices in Zurich and New York. For more information, please visit 21.co.
About CoinGecko
Since 2014, CoinGecko has been a trusted source of information by millions of cryptocurrency investors. Its mission is to empower the cryptocurrency community with an in-depth, 360-degree overview of the market. CoinGecko delivers comprehensive information from thousands of data points such as price, trading volume, market capitalization, developer strength, community statistics, and more. It currently tracks over 12,000 crypto assets from over 500 exchanges worldwide. For more information about CoinGecko, visit www.coingecko.com.
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