Derivatives marketplace CME Group is planning to launch reference rates and real-time indices for three metaverse crypto assets.
This will enable investors to track pricing data more accurately using a method that is frequently used in traditional finance. Axie Infinity (AXS), Chiliz (CHZ), and Decentraland (MANA) will all have reference rates available starting on January 30, CME Group and CF Benchmarks announced on January 5.
Investors can use the reference rates and indices, which are not tradeable items, to:“price sector-specific portfolios, develop structured products … And manage price risk around various Metaverse-based projects,” said Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group’s head of cryptocurrency products.
A minimum of two cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Bitstamp, Coinbase, Kraken, itBit, and LMAX Digital, shall provide pricing information for the calculation of the reference rates and real-time indexes for AXS, CHZ, and MANA.
Each real-time index will be published every second of every day, and the reference rates for the assets will be priced in US dollars and published daily at 4 p.m. London time.
According to CoinMarketCap, Chiliz, the biggest of the aforementioned metaverse plays, has a market valuation of $742 million right now. Axie’s market capitalization is $686.5 million, while Decentraland is estimated to be at $597.2 million.
With the introduction of micro-sized Bitcoin (BTC $16,837) and Ether (ETH $1,252) options last year, CME Group has been active in the cryptocurrency market.
Additionally, the derivatives market included BTC and ETH options in euro for institutional investors outside of the US. During the previous cryptocurrency bull market, scores of projects made the promise of building virtual replicas of the actual world, which caused the popularity of metaverse tokens to soar.
In October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook changed its name to Meta in recognition of this potential possibilities. Since its beginning, Meta’s metaverse subsidiary has been losing money, highlighting the challenges of making items that are marketable in the brand-new virtual environment.
