Algorand Foundation's New Research: TVL Could Easily Become a Game

Golden Finance reports that the Tokenomics team of the Algorand Foundation has released a new study questioning one of the most commonly cited metrics in the Crypto Assets field—Total Value Locked (TVL). This report provides the strongest evidence to date that, despite the prominent position of TVL in various dashboards, news headlines, and investor profiles, it does not impact the financial performance of Tokens. A recent analysis of over 300 Crypto Assets (excluding Bitcoin and stablecoins) for the period of 2023-2024, led by Dr. Matthew Brigida, Associate Professor of Finance at the State University of New York and Chief Economist at the Algorand Foundation, found no evidence that TVL can predict the value performance of tokens. The research team creates portfolios weekly, ranking Tokens based on TVL and holding the top 25% of Tokens while shorting the bottom 25% of Tokens, to test whether a portfolio of high TVL minus low TVL can generate excess returns (Alpha). The results indicate that they do not.