Benchmark Implementation
Benchmark implementation is the process of constructing an index token to track the AMKT Benchmark created by the DAO.
Service Entity Asset List
The process of constructing an index from the benchmark is guided by discretionary criteria created by the service entity, any deviations between the asset list are often a result of technical or legal limitations.
Examples of implementation criteria set by a service entity include:
Custodial Support - Must have a secure institutional custody solution by a licensed and reputable service provider to facilitate the implementation of the index. Asset maturity on this platform must be >30 days.
This ensures a digital asset selection pool with enough market maturity supported by a custodian’s vetting process, generally evaluating both security and legal risks, as well as liquidity depth.
Cooperation with Regulators - The asset must not be considered a security by the corresponding authorities across relevant jurisdictions. This helps ensure AMKT DAO is compliant with local regulations and able to operate without regulatory scrutiny that could threaten the continuity of AMKT DAO and AMKT.
Exchange Support - Must be traded on multiple credible exchange/trading venues. Asset maturity on supported trading venues must be >30 days.
This ensures smooth trading and liquidity during the issuance and redemption of the reserve constituents, which helps facilitates token liquidity.
The AMKT DAO does not have the ability to decide how a benchmark may be implemented; which can result in the Methodology published by the DAO deviating significantly from the methodology used in an index token.
Issuance and Redemption
All implementations of AMKT index tokens should support Issuance and Redemption, redeemability is an important factor to ensure that the market price of an index does not deviate significantly from its net-asset value. A service entity may choose to appoint merchants; authorized entities which participate in the minting and burning of index tokens.
Issuance
Token issuance refers to the process of increasing the supply of index tokens in circulation through minting. The issuance process is administrated by the index system, however, the process can only be initiated by a whitelisted merchant. This minting process is defined below:
Merchant initiates the process by sending a transaction to the index token contract signaling they intend to send the underlying assets for n equivalent index tokens calculated by our API and index dissemination.
Merchant sends the custodian the underlying assets to the value of the index tokens they want to receive.
The index system creates a transaction to mint n AMKT tokens, after verifying the amount for underlying assets they received is correct.
Redemption
Token redemption refers to the reduction of supply of index tokens through the action of redeeming index tokens for the underlying assets. Only merchants addresses can initiate redemption of index tokens. To do so, the merchant calls the burn function in the smart contract. This burning process is defined below:
Merchant creates a burn transaction, burning n index tokens.
The index system observes the index tokens burned, and instructs the custodian to release the equivalent underlying assets to the merchant, calculated by our API and index dissemination.
Custodian received the underlying assets calculated.
Authorized Merchants may redeem AMKT for its corresponding underlying assets subject to Terms and Conditions, applicable law, and any fees where applicable. All AMKT holders are entitled to redeem AMKT directly with the service provider. If you wish to become an Authorized Merchant, please fill out this form.
Methodology Calculation
Service entities are responsible for calculating the weights of the assets in their indexes. These calculations should be made in accordance to the methodology calculation guidelines and math outlined in the AMKT Benchmark Methodology section of the DAO governance documentation.
Market Capitalization
When constructing new indexes, service providers should select and utilize from the AMKT Asset Universe when determining asset inclusion.
Digital Asset Supply
Service providers should utilize the circulating supply of a digital asset to calculate free-float market capitalization to determine inclusion and relative weighting. Circulating supply is defined as the supply of available units of a digital asset available to be moved from one deposit to another or available for trading, as defined by the DAO.
Circulating supply will be calculated on the day immediately preceding the relevant rebalance and reconstitution day. This calculation will use the 5-day exponential moving average of the digital asset’s circulating supply. Circulating supply of digital asset remains fixed until the next reconstitution and rebalancing.
Exponential moving average is used to avoid price and market capitalization manipulation during rebalances and reconstitutions.
Data References
Prices and data points referenced should come from established and reliable institutional data providers.
Data Gathering
Data for methodology calculations is sourced at 00:00 UTC 5 days prior to the reconstitution and/or rebalancing event. The data such as circulating supply and market cap is snapshotted at this discreet time, and is fed into the methodology calculation.
Attestations
It is recommended that service entities appoint a reputable third-party to observe, calculate and publish attestations of the assets (reserves) and liabilities (index tokens) of their distributed index tokens. These attestations should be made on a regular basis, or preferably in real-time.
Service Fees
Service providers may choose to charge a fee for the administration of their index. One way this might be administed is by inflating their index at a fixed annual interval via the issuing smart contract.
Rebalancing and reweighing
Service providers should action the rebalance and reweighing schedule in line with the calendar published by the AMKT DAO. The following outlines how a service entity might rebalance and/or reconstitute their index. A methodologist refers to the role of an entity which calculates the methodology from the Service Entity Asset List , this rule may be fulfilled internally or another entity may be appointed by the service entity to fulfill this role.
Reconstitution Process
Reconstitution should occur quarterly, an example reconstitution process is defined below:
The methodologist finalizes the AMKT Index based on the eligibility prior to the reconstitution.
The methodologist publishes an updated list of AMKT constituents five days prior to the reconstitution.
The custodian begins preparations in anticipation of trading operations to reflect the new methodology.
The methodologist communicates to the custodian the target weighting for each constituent a day before reconstitution occurs.
The network pauses the issuance and redemption features in anticipation of trading operations immediately prior to reconstitution. During this time, the smart contracts are unavailable for use.
The issuer goes through all pending transactions prior to trading operations.
Trades of previous constituents and desired constituents are executed to achieve the desired weighting on the day of reconstitution.
The network verifies the custodian now holds the correct weighting of underlying assets.
The network resumes issuance, redemption, and publishes methodology following verification.
Rebalancing Process
The rebalancing process is defined below; the process mirrors reconstitution - however there are no changes to the total number or type of assets - only their relative weightings. An example rebalancing process is defined below:
The custodian begins preparations in anticipation of trading operations to reflect the circulating supply changes.
The methodologist communicates to the custodian the target weighting for each constituent a day before rebalancing occurs.
The network pauses the issuance and redemption features in anticipation of trading operations immediately prior to rebalancing.
The issuer goes through all pending transactions prior to trading operations.
The custodian executes the trades of previous units and desired units to achieve the desired weighting on the day of rebalancing.
The network verifies the custodian now holds the correct weighting of underlying assets.
The network resumes issuance, redemption, and publishes methodology following verification.
Network Downtime during Reconstitution and Rebalancing
During the rebalancing process there may be downtime, this is because issuance and redemption cannot be made until the rebalance or reconstitution process has been completed and the assets inside of the network custody accounts has been settled. Downtime may be influenced by factors such as:
The number of assets being moved into and out of custody.
Network confirmation and settlement times of the aforementioned assets (an important step to protect against events such as reorgs).
Network downtime for the aforementioned assets; in an eventuality where the network is down due to maintenance or congestion - settlement may be delayed indefinitely.
Index Maintenance, Rules, and Distribution
Network Distributions - Definitions, Price Impact, and Treatment by the service provider
It is the sole discretion of the service provider to decide how assets included in their indexes should be treated before, during and after special market events. Network distribution changes arising from hard forks, emissions and airdrops can have an impact on the price of a crypto asset and therefore the value of an index tracking that asset. In order to maintain accurate pricing for AMKT Crypto Indexes, the following procedures are advised to be followed with respect to these events. The following a best practice guidelines for the treatment of these special market events.
Hard Forks
Hard forks occur when different policies are adopted by consensus nodes, and holders of the original assets receive new crypto assets.
Eligible Crypto Asset Trading Venues often provide pricing for both forked coins during the interregnum between the fork occurring and deposits and withdrawals being enabled for both coins. In these situations, AMKT Crypto Indexes will treat the crypto asset as an aggregate asset from a pricing perspective, holding both parts of the forked coin and aggregating their value into a single unit. The DAO will recognize the newly forked coin as a separate coin, and apply standard pricing techniques to both assets. The AMKT DAO multi-sig reserves the right to make a fair-value estimate of the value of the forked coins in extraordinary situations.
Emissions are regular awards given to holders of certain crypto assets in the form of “gas” that powers transactions on the network itself. Given the small values involved with emissions, it is not practical for investment funds handling regular inflows and outflows to accurately track AMKT Crypto Indexes if they accrued emissions on a daily basis. As a result, the AMKT Crypto Indexes ignore emissions for index calculation purposes, though it is expected that fund managers tracking these indexes may accrue emissions and periodically liquidate them to deliver excess returns to shareholders.
Airdrops
An airdrop is a process where a new cryptocurrency token is distributed to holders of an existing cryptocurrency. Airdrops are usually used as a marketing tool to promote awareness and adoption of the new token. They can also be used to distribute tokens to users who are active in a certain community or who meet certain criteria.
Airdrops are not native to the internal return drivers of any given cryptocurrency and can require agency on the part of cryptocurrency holders which can put them at risk, so they are not incorporated into Alongside’s Crypto Indexes.
Staking
Staking rewards are not included in Alongside Crypto Indexes due to the liquidity restrictions associated with them. When holders of a crypto asset lock up their holdings as collateral to validate transactions or other network actions, they may be entitled to staking rewards.
These rewards can typically come with stipulations that prevent the coins from being immediately spent as a result of a time-lock, which may make them unsuitable for inclusion in an index that is designed to track the real-time market value of cryptocurrencies.
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