8/18/2022

Wilshire and Digital Asset Research add 119 More Digital Assets to Sector Classification System

The Digital Asset Taxonomy System now classifies 1,301 assets, offering the broadest coverage on the market

London, Santa Monica, and New York, August 18, 2022Wilshire, a global investment technology and advisory company, and Digital Asset Research (DAR), a specialized provider of ‘clean’ digital asset data, research and insights, today announced that 119 additional assets have been classified and added to the Digital Asset Taxonomy System (DATS) as a result of its rule-based quarterly review process.

DATS now classifies 1,301 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 119 digital assets at the July review follows a turbulent trading period over the last two quarters which resulted in significant changes to the market capitalization of many digital assets.

There were subsector classification changes for three existing digital assets as a result of the quarterly review process in July.  These changes were implemented on August 15, 2022

Martin Howard, SVP of Index Research at Wilshire commented, “Quarterly reviews of the Digital Asset Taxonomy System ensure that the sector classification remains representative of this nascent and rapidly evolving asset class.  By publishing the rules-based methodology we aim to bring the utmost transparency to classification so that 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 “In addition to the continuous research process that gives us the inputs to classify digital assets, the insights shared by the Wilshire Digital Assets Advisory Group are incredibly valuable and important in maintaining an objective, robust governance structure and the development of DATS.”

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 the (DATS) for the same purposes as they would adopt 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 2022.  Visit www.wilshire.com/dats for more information and for the full DATS methodology.

Media Contact

Amy Bradford

media@wilshire.com

T     +1 805 256 5674

About Wilshire

Wilshire is a global provider of market-leading indexes, advanced analytics, and multi-asset investment solutions. A trusted partner to a diverse range of more than 500 institutional investors and financial intermediaries, our clients rely on us to improve investment outcomes for a better future.  Wilshire is headquartered in the United States with offices worldwide and advises on over $1.3 trillion in assets, $93 billion of which are assets under management.

About Digital Asset Research

Digital Asset Research (DAR) is a specialized provider of 'clean' digital asset data, insights, and research for institutional clients including asset managers, banks, custodians, family offices, fintech firms, fund administrators, hedge funds, and venture capital firms. Since 2017, DAR leads by rigorously vetting out noisy inputs for clients. Each day, DAR processes 120+ million trades to price over 3500 assets and deliver a range of product solutions to navigate the cryptoverse.

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