How We Ranked CoinDesk’s Crypto Hubs 2023: Our Methodology

The next challenge was to create the initial sample of hubs we should collect data for. Both of us have worked professionally in the past on rankings that began with a sample of hundreds of metro areas. But our time and resources are not unlimited; we sought to shortcut the process by reaching out to dozens of crypto experts representing media, blockchain clubs, venture funds, founders of layer 1s, 2s and decentralized applications, players in DeFi, ReFi and more. We sought diversity wherever we could: race, gender, sexual orientation and nationality, at least. We asked these experts to independently respond to a survey to indicate five to 10 or more crypto hubs around the globe they felt deserved being considered for the ranking. We also asked them to explain in a sentence or two what each hub had to offer and how they would prioritize criteria to be used in the ranking.