Now that we’re familiar with the difference between metrics and indicators, let’s talk about how we combine metrics to better understand the financial health of the assets we’re dealing with. Why do this? Well, as we’ve outlined in the previous sections, there are shortcomings with every metric. Furthermore, if you’re just looking at a collection of numbers for each cryptocurrency project, you’re overlooking a lot of crucial information. Consider the following scenario:
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Coin A
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Coin B
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Market Capitalization
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$100,000,000
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$5,000,000
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Transaction count (6mo)
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20,000,000
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40,000,000
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Avg. transaction value (6mo)
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$50
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$100
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Active addresses (6mo)
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30,000
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2,000
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In isolation, active addresses tell us nothing of substance if we compare the two offerings. We could certainly say that Coin A has had more active addresses in the past six months than Coin B, but that’s far from a comprehensive analysis. How does this figure relate to the market cap? Or the transaction count?
A more prudent approach would be to create some kind of ratio that we could apply to some of Coin A‘s statistics, then compare it with that same ratio used on Coin B‘s. That way, we’re not blindly comparing each coin’s individual metrics. Instead, we can create a standard for valuing coins independently.
For example, we might decide that the relationship between market cap and transaction count is a lot more telling than market cap alone. In which case, we might divide the market cap by the transaction count. For Coin A, we end up with a ratio of 5, and for Coin B our ratio is 0.125.
Going on this ratio alone, we might think that Coin B is more intrinsically valuable than Coin A because the number calculated is lower. What that means is that there is a much higher amount of transactions in relation to the market cap in Coin B. Therefore, it could seem that Coin B has more utility, or that Coin A is being overvalued.
Neither of these observations should be construed as investment advice – this is simply an example of how we might paint a small piece of the bigger picture. Without understanding the projects’ goals and the coins’ function, you can’t determine whether the comparatively smaller transaction number on Coin A is a positive or negative development.
A similar ratio that has seen some popularity in the cryptocurrency markets is the NVT ratio. Coined by analyst Willy Woo, the network value-to-transaction ratio has been called the “price-to-earnings ratio of the crypto world.” In simple terms, it involves dividing the market capitalization (or network value) by the amount transacted (typically on a daily chart).
We’re only scratching the surface on the kinds of indicators that can be used. Fundamental analysis is all about developing a system that can be used to value projects across the board. The more quality research we do, the more data we have to work with.