China’s Shenzhen Stock Exchange Launches Index of 50 Blockchain Firms

The stock exchange of China’s technology capital Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE), launched an index tracking the performance of 50 blockchain firms.

According to an announcement on Dec. 24, the index will be based on the stocks of 50 companies listed on the SSE that participate in the blockchain industry.

The top 50 blockchain-related stocks are ranked based on their average daily market value over the past six months. The index is updated two times per year: on the second Friday of June and December.

Doing due diligence

Before creating the index, the SSE made sure that the companies involved are actually using the technology, rather than just capitalizing on the hype.

In March 2018, SSE had suspended trading of healthcare device manufacturer Lifesense while it conducted investigations into the firm and its claims regarding blockchain deployment. A company announcement regarding the launch of a “blockchain laboratory” had caused its share price to skyrocket 10%, hitting the SSE’s daily limit.

SSE is one of two stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China. According to stock market data website TradingHours, the SSE’s market capitalization is $3.12 trillion, making it the fourth largest in Asia and the eighth largest in the world.

Major exchanges are beginning to list indexes that track blockchain and cryptocurrency-related firms. As Cointelegraph reported in mid-October, Nasdaq listed the AI-powered CIX100 index created by crypto data provider Cryptoindex.

In September, Nasdaq also listed a blockchain decentralized finance index called Defix, which includes projects such as proof-of-work blockchain Amoveo, decentralized exchange protocol 0x and prediction market Augur.