According to Coinmarketcap, as of today, 10 million tokens have been birthed into existence. 10 years ago there were just over 500. Here is a chart from 2015 to now.
A decade ago, with respect to the cryptocurrency market, filtering out what to invest in versus what not to was still possible. The research effort required to review tokens was still manageable and the diversity of token use cases and tokenomics was still fairly limited. Provided an investor was prepared to put in some effort, it was feasible to get across the space and differentiate between quality tokens and those unlikely to succeed.
Now with 10 million tokens and 5,300 new tokens being created daily, that task is close to impossible for most. It is not inconceivable that we will soon be operating in an environment where there are tens of millions of tokens to choose from. For this reason, many investors either invest into the tokens that have attracted the most sustained mainstream media attention, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Ripple, or, feeling overwhelmed, avoid the space altogether.
Trading volume data reflects this. Investor activity remains concentrated in these tokens, with a long tail of lower volumes in lesser-known cryptocurrencies. This behaviour underscores the reality that investors gravitate toward familiarity and perceived stability, despite the possibility that alternative tokens can offer greater upside potential.
For those that just stick to brand-name crypto tokens, this is akin to staying invested in companies like IBM, Yahoo and Cisco despite having the option to get in early on Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Investors who don’t diversify beyond well-known crypto projects can miss out on the performance gains of these higher growth opportunities. Take Sui, for example, an emerging Layer 1 network. Over the past 12 months Sui has returned 226% against Ethereum’s 48%. Sui trading volume is only 6.4% of Ethereum’s volume.
The challenge of too many tokens
The exponential growth in the number of tokens does not equate to an equally proportionate increase in the number of viable investment opportunities, rather, it creates noise that makes it even harder to identify promising projects without a structured approach. Future potential market-leaders like Sui are mixed in with tokens that are scams, tokens that are no more than vapourware and tokens with no product-market fit.
Suppose that there is some number of tokens that will actually be successful. Whether that number is 100, or 1000, or 10000 doesn’t actually matter, because those numbers would imply that out of the current universe of 10 million tokens, the number that won’t succeed is 9,999,900 or 9,999,000, or 9,990,000, respectively. Proportionally, those that will fail are 99.999%, 99.99% or 99.9%. Investors need a way to avoid these tokens altogether, or at least minimise as much as possible their exposure to this segment of the market.
The solution: index to cut through the noise
So, how can they do this? Fundamental research on 10 million tokens isn’t the answer. Instead, the solution lies in collapsing an unmanageable number of tokens into a manageable number of better than average tokens and then indexing groups of tokens within this narrowed token universe that show success markers. This will increase the odds of investing in a token or tokens that can gain enough attention, capital and liquidity, to survive into the long term, or the investment horizon of choice.
Crypto aggregators provide a good starting point for narrowing the broader universe of tokens and creating an indexable pool. Coinmarketcap and Coingecko each list fewer than 20,000 tokens, which filters out lower-quality projects (those that have no exchange listing, no material trading volume, no website and no point of contact). While aggregator listings do not guarantee success, tokens that can meet basic listing requirements will gain greater visibility as a result of the millions of page views these aggregators get daily. This attention is an important factor in increasing the odds of success.
Building indexes with Themelia
But just limiting an investment strategy to building indexes based purely on aggregator data would be sub-optimal. Continuing to refine this pool even further is what will ultimately create the most effective investment strategy. This is where Themelia comes in. Our platform provides investors with an index builder that enables further filtering and customisation of pooled aggregator data. Investors can tailor their index strategy based on themes, market cap, trading volume, base layer, and much more, helping them to develop index strategies that over-index to winners an underindex to failures.
With millions of tokens competing for attention, indexing is no longer just an option - it’s now an essential. By leveraging data-driven tools like Themelia, investors can cut through the noise, focus on tokens with real potential, and build diversified strategies that improve their odds of success in a crowded market.
