Crypto Narrative Indices
Capital rotates between stories: AI one month, memecoins the next. These eight equal-weight indices make that rotation measurable. Every basket is a fixed, public list of Binance spot pairs; the index is chain-linked from member daily returns and rebased to 100 on 2025-01-01. No optimisation, no quiet reshuffles: a basket changes only with a dated commit.
Eight themes, one base
Each line is an equal-weight basket rebased to 100 on 2025-01-01, daily closes, chain-linked. Members that listed later join on their first full day, so young baskets carry fewer names early on.
Scoreboard
| Theme | Members | Index | 1d | 7d | 30d | 90d | YTD | vs BTC 30d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeFi Exchange, lending and yield protocols: UNI, AAVE, SKY, LDO, CRV, JUP, RAY, ENA, CAKE. | 9/9 | 44.3 | +4.2% | +10.0% | +39.3% | +48.1% | -3.3% | +17.5 pp |
| Memecoins The attention trade: DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, WIF, BONK, FLOKI, TRUMP, PENGU. | 8/8 | 17.8 | -1.9% | -3.8% | +24.8% | -0.8% | -36.3% | +3.0 pp |
| Quantum Quantum-narrative exposure: QNT plus BTC and ETH as the assets the debate is about. | 3/3 | 75.2 | +0.2% | -0.6% | +18.3% | +13.8% | -13.9% | -3.5 pp |
| Layer 2 Ethereum scaling: ARB, OP, POL, STRK, ZK, SCR, METIS. | 7/7 | 8.4 | +0.4% | -0.0% | +17.9% | -15.9% | -54.0% | -3.9 pp |
| Real-World Assets Tokenised treasuries, credit and RWA rails: ONDO, LINK, PENDLE, POLYX, OM, SYRUP, PLUME. | 7/7 | 28.2 | +0.5% | -0.3% | +17.1% | +9.1% | -23.0% | -4.7 pp |
| DePIN Physical infrastructure networks: FIL, RENDER, IO, AR, IOTX, GLM, THETA. | 7/7 | 14.5 | +3.5% | +0.5% | +17.1% | -18.9% | -34.8% | -4.7 pp |
| AI Compute, agents and data networks: TAO, FET, RENDER, NEAR, WLD, ARKM, AI, GRT. | 8/8 | 17.1 | -0.7% | -3.3% | +10.9% | -25.9% | -19.5% | -11.0 pp |
| Layer 1 Base layers: ETH, SOL, BNB, ADA, AVAX, SUI, TRX, TON, APT, DOT. | 10/10 | 34.0 | -1.0% | -2.4% | +9.4% | -4.3% | -39.5% | -12.4 pp |
Returns are index-level (equal weight, daily rebalanced). vs BTC is the 30-day return difference in percentage points against the BTC index built the same way.
Methodology and honest limits
Source: Binance spot daily closes (USDT pairs), fetched each day at 00:40 UTC. Each theme's daily return is the simple mean of its members' daily returns for members with a close on both days; the index compounds those returns from 100 on 2025-01-01. The last, in-progress candle is excluded.
Baskets are curated, fixed lists in the codebase. They include delisted-later or underperforming names on purpose: survivorship is the usual way theme indices flatter themselves. A basket changes only with a dated commit, and the change is visible in this page's history.
This is a measurement of narrative rotation, not a recommendation. Equal weighting exaggerates small-cap moves relative to market-cap indices; that is the point, since narratives are traded in the tails.
FAQ
Why equal weight?
Market-cap weighting turns every theme into its biggest member (ETH for L1, DOGE for memes). Equal weight measures the theme, not its leader.
Why start on 2025-01-01?
A common base lets the eight lines be compared on one chart; it is far enough back to cover a full rotation cycle and recent enough that most members have traded throughout.
Can I get the data?
Every index value is recorded daily into the CC0 metric-daily dataset (metric keys theme_<key>_index) and served by the public API at /api/public/themes.