Introducing the Synthetix DeFi Index
Synthetix recently launched their second iteration of sDEFI, an index that contains a basket of synthetic assets on Ethereum.
The sDEFI index provides a strong reflection of the overall performance decentralized finance by using a basket of highly liquid tokens across multiple protocols.
We have now launched a tracker of this index that can be directly compared to the price of ETH across various time periods.
Index Basket
The second iteration of the Synthetix sDEFI index was created by CoinGecko analyst, Daryl Lau and the following table shows the weight of each token within the basket. An up-to-date breakdown of the basket can be found on the Synthetix website.
| Symbol | Name | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| COMP | Compound | 20.5% |
| MKR | Maker | 15% |
| KNC | Kyber Network | 11.8% |
| SNX | Synthetix | 10.2% |
| ZRX | 0x | 9.7% |
| REP | Augur | 7.2% |
| LEND | Aave | 6.7% |
| REN | Ren Protocol | 5% |
| UMA | UMA | 4.2% |
| LRC | Loopring | 3.8% |
| BNT | Bancor | 3.4% |
| BAL | Balancer | 2.5% |
About The Data
Every minute our tracker queries the Synthetix API for the total number of units for each token within the sDEFI basket. These units are then multiplied by their respective prices on CoinGecko and summed. Volumes for each token are also recorded.
The volume data displayed on the DeFi index shows the total volume traded across all tokens in the index’s basket according to CoinGecko (as opposed to the volume traded of the sDEFI token).
This DeFi index can also be compared to our own ETH price index using the chart on the page linked to above.
How to Invest in sDEFI
The sDEFI token provides holders with exposure to a broad range of liquid DeFi assets from large capitalization coins like Maker (MKR) through to smaller tokens such as Balancer (BAL).
The most liquid exchange to buy and sell sDEFI is on the synthetix.exchange website. With a web3 wallet such as MetaMask, users can buy sDEFI using other synthetic assets including sUSD, sETH and sBTC (among many others).
The easiest route for purchasing sUSD, sETH, sBTC etc is to use a decentralized exchange (DEX) like Uniswap, or a DEX aggregator like 1inch.exchange. Using these platforms, it is possible to swap ETH or any ERC-20 token for sUSD, sETH and so on.
Once a synthetic asset (such as the sUSD stablecoin) has been purchased, it is then possible to use the Synthetix exchange in the same way you might use Binance or Coinbase Pro.
Investing in sDEFI is not straight forward. For simplicity, users may wish to purchase individual tokens via an exchange like Coinbase without buying the index token itself.
Risk Warning
Sythnetix is a long-established exchange that has issued millions of dollars worth of synthetic assets on the Ethereum blockchain.
That said, Synthetix relies on price oracles to deliver accurate data and while secure and so far robust, oracles can become points of failure for any decentralized application.
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