The broad variety of cryptocurrencies is associated with very different designs. In this paper, we introduce a unique, hand-collected data set of cryptocurrency design features which we use to analyze the relative valuation of 79 cryptocurrencies. Controlling for general market movements during the coins’ different lifetimes, we are able to reduce the influence of age and associated network effects. Our approach identifies that transaction-fee-driven reward structures and, more notably, a lack of innovation, measured as whether the cryptocurrency is a spin-off from an existing network, significantly lessens market capitalization. The prospect for regulatory acceptance is a positive valuation driver. Furthermore, we identify Bitcoin-like combinations of design features as being favorable towards the accumulation of a remarkable market capitalization of the
respective cryptocurrency.
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