Dynamic interlinkages between cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and DeFis and optimal portfolio investment strategies

PurposeThis study aims to scrutinize time-varying return and volatility interlinkages among major cryptocurrencies, NFT tokens and DeFi assets between 1 July 2018 and 19 February 2023 and determine optimal portfolio allocations and hedging effectiveness under different portfolio construction techniques.Design/methodology/approachThis work examines time-varying return and volatility interlinkages among major cryptocurrencies, NFT tokens, and DeFi assets between 1 July 2018 and 19 February 2023. To this end, the time-varying parameter-vector autoregression (TVP-VAR)-based connectedness methodology of Antonakakis et al. (2020) This approach is an extended version of the Diebold–Yilmaz (DY) method (Diebold and Yılmaz, 2014) and has advantages over the original DY. First, unlike the DY, it is free of the selection of a particular window size. Second, it has robustness for the outliers. Furthermore, following Broadstock et al. (2022), the author estimates time-varying optimal portfolio weights and hedging effectiveness under different portfolio construction scenarios.FindingsThis study's results indicate the following results: (1) The overall connectedness indices prominently capture well-known financial/geopolitical distress incidents; (2) the leading cryptocurrencies (ETH, BTC and BNB) are the largest transmitter of return shocks, while LINK and BTC are the largest transmitters/recipients of volatility shocks; (3) cryptocurrencies, NFTs and DeFi form distinct cluster groups in terms of return and volatility connectedness; (4) the connectedness networks estimated around the 2022 cryptocurrency crash and the FTX's filing for the bankruptcy are characterized by the strongest return and volatility interlinkages; (5) optimal portfolio strategies computed by different portfolio construction techniques display similar motifs and have sustained growth paths except for some short-lived drop backs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings imply several policy suggestions for investors, stakeholders and policymakers. First, the study's time-based dynamic interlinkages can help market participants in their optimal portfolio decisions. In particular, the persistent net receiving roles of the DeFi assets and the NFTs throughout the episode, especially around the financial/geopolitical turmoil, underpin their safe haven potentials (Umar et al., 2022a, b). Finally, since the total connectedness indices (TCIs) are prone to significantly increase around financial/geopolitical burst times, these tools can be valuable for policy makers to monitor risk.Originality/valueThe contribution of knowledge is at least threefold. First, the author focuses on the dynamic time interlinkages among major cryptocurrencies, NFTs and DeFi assets in July 2018 and February 2023 considering the prominent recent financial/geopolitical incidents. Second, the author estimates network topologies of dynamic connectedness around financial/geopolitical bursts and compared them in terms of interlinkages. Finally, the author calculates the time-varying optimal portfolio allocations and hedging effectiveness under different portfolio construction techniques.