Methodology

Beta uses an isolated collateral model for tighter fund security. This means that if an asset is compromised, the entire protocol remains safe. The isolated model gives Beta users confidence that their assets are safe even if Beta has a market with a compromised asset. Verified markets configured by governance are evaluated by smart-contract risk, counterparty risk, and market risk. These risks inform the risk parameters that are set for these assets.

Risk Factors

Smart Contract Risk

Smart-contract (SC) risk estimates the likelihood of issues emerging with the technical implementation of an asset. SC risk of an asset is assessed by:

  • The number of transactions

  • The number of holders

  • The quality of the audits conducted.

  • The presence of bug bounties

  • The TVL of the asset if it takes user deposits

  • The age of an asset

Tier

Txs

Users

Age of Asset

Audits/Bounties

TVL

S

1,000,000+

100,000+

2 years +

Several high quality Audits & $1mm+ bounty

$500m+

AA

500,000+

50,000+

1 years +

High quality Audit & second audit & $500k+ bounty

$100m+

A

250,000+

25,000+

6 months +

High quality audit & $100k+ bounty

$50m+

BB

100,000+

10,000+

3 months +

High quality audit & $50k+

$10m+

B

50,000+

5,000+

2 months +

Several audits & $10k+

$1m+

C

< 50,000

< 2,500

< 2 months

An audit & some unit/integration tests

< $1m

Counterparty Risk

Counterparty (CP) risk is an approximate measure of the centralization of an asset. CP risk of an asset is assessed by:

  • Qualitative assessment of the centralization of an asset and its developers

  • The governance structure of an asset

  • The exposure of the asset to regulatory risks

  • The asset reliance on a custodian

  • The distribution of governance power and implementation of treasury/contract management. E.g. n of k multi-sig vs. single signer

  • How mutable are the market characteristics of an asset due to governance

Tier

Team risk

Centralization risk

Regulatory risk

S

Extremely reputable team with clear incentives to act in protocol best interest

Contracts controlled by DAO or 1st world government-regulated custodian

Extremely unlikely to have regulatory action enacted against asset/team

AA

Highly reputable team

DAO governance or highly reputable custodian

Highly unlikely to have regulatory action enacted

A

Very reputable team

DAO governance or protocol multi-sig w/ off-chain voting or great custodian

Very unlikely to have regulatory action enacted

BB

Very reputable team

Multi-sig governance with off-chain voting

Unlikely to have regulatory action enacted

B

Reputable team

Multi-sig governance without voting

Regulatory risk is present

C

The team can be vouched for

Single-signer governance

Regulatory risks present or pending

Market Risk

Market (M) risk is a quantitative assessment of the present liquidity and historical volatility of an asset. M risk of an asset is assessed by:

  • The average 24-hour volume is a proxy for available liquidity across CEX&DEX

  • The paired liquidity can inform the present liquidity of an asset on DEXes and the availability of an asset on reputable CEXs

  • AMM liquidity growth and decay

  • Historical price movement risk (a proxy for historical worst-case volatility) can be measured as the maximum price movement within an hour and four hours. An hourly sampling rate reflects an upper bound on time between oracle updates for a Beta market, where price volatility is relevant

  • The oracle deviation threshold for which price is updated. Smaller implies the protocol has more accurate knowledge of an asset’s price

Tier

Avg. 24-hr volume

DEX AMM Liquidity

1-hour max % change

4-hour max % change

Oracle Dev. Threshold

CEX Listings

S

$1b+

$100m+

2.5%

5%

1%

Exchanges with $1b daily volume

AA

$100m+

$25m+

5%

10%

2%

Exchanges with $1b daily volume

A

$50m+

$10m+

10%

20%

3.5%

Exchanges with $100m daily volume

BB

$10m+

$5m+

20%

40%

***

Exchanges with $100m daily volume

B

$1m+

$1m+

40%

60%

***

Exchanges with $10m daily volume

C

< $1m

< $1m

> 40%

> 60%

***

***

The quantitative framework described serves as guidance to evaluating the riskiness of an asset. Based on these three risk factors and additional team evaluation, governance determines which of the six asset tiers (S, AA, A, BB, B, C) a money market is assigned and which LTV and Collateral Factors are appropriate. The risk tiers of money markets are able to be upgraded or downgraded.

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