MarketVector Indexes: the index provider from Frankfurt

An index provider decides which assets belong in an index, how they are weighted and when the list changes, and it calculates the index level every day. ETF and ETP issuers license these indices and build products that track them. MarketVector is known for thematic equity indices, for indices on companies linked to hard assets such as gold miners, and for a digital asset index family. It has published crypto indices since 2017, the first ones built with CryptoCompare, today CCData. VanEck and MarketVector later made a strategic investment in CCData.

The company was registered as a benchmark administrator under the EU Benchmarks Regulation (BMR) on July 5, 2019, then under the name MVIS, and has traded as MarketVector Indexes GmbH since April 13, 2022. Its crypto indices include the MarketVector Digital Assets 100 index and single-asset reference rates for bitcoin, ether and other coins.

A benchmark is any index or rate that sets the price of a financial product or measures a fund's performance. Under the BMR, a firm that provides a benchmark used in the EU has to be authorized or registered, publish its methodology and control conflicts of interest. For crypto this matters because prices differ from one exchange to the next: a benchmark rate has to say which trading venues count and how outliers are removed.

In January 2024 MarketVector licensed its Bitcoin Benchmark Rate to VanEck for HODL, a spot bitcoin ETF in the United States, and in July 2024 its Ethereum Benchmark Rate for ETHV. Crypto price feed providers compares MarketVector with the other benchmark and data firms, and the answer What is market data? explains the basics.

In Europe most crypto exchange-traded products are exchange-traded notes, because crypto is not an eligible asset under the UCITS fund rules. A crypto index ETP therefore tracks a crypto index as a note, and the index provider's rulebook decides what the investor holds. Crypto indices explained and Crypto ETP: how these products work cover the details, and What is a bitcoin ETF? compares the US and European products.

MarketVector works close to the market its indices serve. BaFin supervises securities trading from its Frankfurt office, and Deutsche Börse's Xetra lists many of the crypto ETNs that German investors buy, with Eurex Clearing clearing the trades. The Bitcoin for Investors masterclass covers these access routes for investors.

MarketVector Indexes GmbH is an affiliate of VanEck, the US asset manager. It runs as a separate, BaFin-registered benchmark administrator in Frankfurt.

The MarketVector Bitcoin Benchmark Rate is a reference price for bitcoin calculated from trades on selected exchanges. It is the bitcoin benchmark behind VanEck's HODL fund. Other providers publish their own bitcoin reference rates with different exchange lists and methods.

A crypto index fund or crypto index ETF follows a crypto index with a fixed rulebook, instead of a single coin. In Germany these products are usually ETNs traded on an exchange such as Xetra. Before buying one, check which index it follows, how the index is weighted and who holds the coins.

An ETF is a fund under fund law, such as UCITS, with its assets held apart from the issuer. A crypto ETP in Europe is usually a note, a debt instrument of the issuer, often backed by coins held with a custodian. Both trade on an exchange during market hours. The legal form decides what happens to your money if the issuer fails.